Production Evaluation of Radioiodine-131 from Neutron Activated of Natural Tellurium Dioxide Target in PTRR-BATAN

Radioiodine-131(I-131, 131I) is the other name of the radioisotope iodine-131 (131I),emits both gamma at energy 364 keV (81,7%) and beta with a maximum energy of 610 keV (89,9%) with half-life (T½) of 8.02 days. I-131 has been used in nuclear medicine for diagnosis of kidney function, thyroid damage, and for treatment of thyroid cancer, endocrine gland cancer, and neuroblastoma. Since 2013, PTRR-BATAN has been producing131I routinely from neutron activated of natural TeO2 targets. The radioactivity of I-131 that has been able to be produced ranged between 499and 1,095 mCi for 5.0 gr of natural TeO2 targets and irradiation of 96 hours. In general, 131I yield is influenced by the number of atoms target, neutron flux, cross section, and duration of irradiation time. In this report, production yields were evaluated according to position of TeO2 target inside an irradiation capsule. Based on several observations, target which position in the center of the irradiation capsule obtained to give the highest yield, an average of 66% from the theoretical calculation. On the other hand, target which position at bottom of the irradiation capsule was found to give a lower yield, an average of 44%. Position of the target material in the irradiation capsule was found not affecting the quality of 131I products. It still conforms to the requirements of radionuclide used in the field of nuclear medicine. I-131 produced in this project have been used for preparing Hippuran-131I, MIBG-131I, Oral-Na131I and 131I-capsules which then used for diagnosis and therapy at several hospitals in Jakarta, Bandung and Semarang.