The Phits Simulation Study for an Alternative Production of 32P Radioisotope by Secondary Neutron Bombardment of 32S Target

Different methods of phosphorous-32 (³²P) radioisotope production have been of great interest over the past few years due to the wide range of³²P applications in agriculture, health, and the environment. In this present study, using the PHITS simulation,³²P radioisotope was theoretically produced by bombarding a natural sulfur target with secondary neutrons generated from 13, 18, and 30 MeV proton irradiation of Ti targets with thicknesses of 0.7, 1.2, and 3.0 mm, respectively. The calculated results showed that secondary neutron flux ranging from 1.78x10¹² to 9.46x10¹² n/cm²s was generated from titanium-bombarded protons, which resulted in the³²P radioactivity yields of 0.200, 0.840, and 3.167 MBq/μAh for proton energies of 13, 18, and 30 MeV, respectively. For 13 MeV protons, no radioactive impurity was generated during the bombardment, while radioactive impurities such as³¹Si,³⁰P,²⁸Al, and³¹S were produced from 30 MeV proton bombardment. The 3<inf>2</inf> P radioactivity yield s and the radioactive impurity yields increase further when the³²S target is increased to 10 grams.