Chemical process study on the separation of gadolinium-153

Three routes of chemical processes for a multicurie production of¹⁵³Gd have been established and demonstrated using one gram of Eu₂O₃ as target irradiated under a neutron flux of 5.0·10¹³n/cm²/s for 42 days. Simulated experiments with the synthetic solution containing appropriate amounts of Gd and Eu and the tracers were performed throughout the established chemical process for verifying its feasibility and the effectiveness. The results show that a high specific activity of 100 Ci/g Gd with the desired radionuclide purity of greater than 99.999% of¹⁵³Gd can be obtained. The chemical yield and processing time among the processes were compared.