Thesis (MSc (Chemistry and Polymer Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.Excitation functions and production rates are presented for various Ce and Pr radionuclides
formed in the bombardment of 141Pr, natLa and natCe with protons. Extensive measure-
ments were performed for 141Pr + p up to 100 MeV and for natLa + p up to 20 MeV. The
possibility is investigated to utilize tandem targetry for the production of no-carrier-added
139Ce of high radionuclidic purity, having a Pr target in the higher energy slot followed
by a La target in a lower energy slot. 141Pr(p,3n)139mNd!139Pr is investigated as an al-
ternative to the direct production route 140Ce(p,2n)139Pr for producing no-carrier-added
139Pr of high radionuclidic purity. The advantages and disadvantages of both production
routes are discussed. The simultaneous production of 139Pr and 140Nd using Pr as target
is also investigated. Experimental thick-target production rates are presented for Pr ra-
dionuclides formed in the bombardment of natCe with protons at incident energies of 20, 26
and 32 MeV. All the experimental excitation functions obtained in this work are compared
with theoretical predictions by means of the geometry-dependent hybrid (GDH) model as
implemented in the code ALICE-IPPE. The results of this work are also compared with
previous literature experimental data, if available
