Electrochemical Method for Producing Radionuclide Lu-177 with High Specific Activity

A modified method for the isolation of radionuclide Lu-177 obtained from a Yb-176 target irradiated with thermal neutrons is proposed. The method consists of the combination of two electrochemical processes-cementation of ytterbium acetate-chloride solution to sodium amalgam and subsequent electrolysis of the ytterbium solution in a separate electrolytic cell without adjusting the solution. The electrochemical setup consisting of two cells gives the purification factor of Lu-177 from ytterbium at a level of 10(5)-10(6) , which allows using Lu-177 of such quality for labeling bioorganic molecules.