The production of medical radionuclides is one of the research activities carried out in the framework of the SPES (Selective Production of Exotic Species) project under the completion stage at the Legnaro National Laboratories of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN-LNL). The heart of SPES is the 70 MeV proton-cyclotron having a dual-beam extraction, installed and commissioned in a new building equipped with ancillary laboratories currently under construction. The SPES main goal is the realisation of an advanced ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) facility to produce re-accelerated exotic ion beams for fundamental nuclear physics studies. The cyclotron double-beam extraction system allows to simultaneously carry out applied research, such as radionuclides production for medicine (SPES-γ). This executive summary outlines the main goals of the new “SPES_MED” proposal to INFN-CSN3, gathering the interdisciplinary communities of the LARAMED (LAboratory of RAdionuclides for MEDicine) and ISOLPHARM (ISOL technique for radioPHARMaceuticals) projects. In particular, the main objectives of the experiment are:
- Perform measurements of nuclear cross sections aiming at the optimization of medical radionuclides production, also using nuclear modelling tools to find out the best irradiation conditions;
- Provide a precise measurement of the ISOL production yields originating from SiC and TiC targets;
- Compare the produced data with the existing simulation libraries, with the purpose of providing an experimental benchmark when the theoretical predictions fail.
The SPES_MED experiment is divided in three work packages.
WP1: Nuclear cross section measurements
Measure unexplored nuclear reactions leading to the production of both the radionuclide of interest and its contaminants, aiming to find out the best irradiation parameters for each specific case.
WP2: ISOL production yield measurements
Measure the ISOL production yield of relevant medical radionuclides and acquire in-depth understanding of the elements that can increase their production.
WP3: Modeling and Monte Carlo simulations
Simulate high-purity radionuclide production for medical applications through nuclear reactions and examine different models for the nuclear reaction mechanisms analysis
The previous experiments of the ISOLPHARM collaboration were ISOLPHARM_Ag (2018-2019), ISOLPHARM_EIRA (2020-2022), ISOLPHARM_CORE (2023-2025) and ISOLPHARM_ADMIRAL (2022-2025).