Recovery, recycling and re-irradiation of enriched 104Ru metal targets for cost effective production of 105Rh.

Abstract Rhodium-105 (0.567 MeV β-, 319 keV γ, 35.4 h half-life) was produced by neutron irradiation of enriched 104Ru (>99%) over multiple decades. A method is reported to recover the previously irradiated 104Ru (trapped in HCl as RuO42−) as the metal. The 104Ru was recovered in >93% yield and >98% enrichment. Neutron re-irradiation of the recycled 104Ru produced 105Rh, which was successfully radiolabeled with tetrathioethers in high yield. This recovery and recycling method for enriched 104Ru makes 105Rh production and utilization economical.