Tantalum-183: Cyclotron production of a neutron-rich biomedical tracer

No-carrier-added tantalum-183 was produced free of radiotantalum impurities by the 186W(p,α)183Ta nuclear reaction using 13.6 MeV protons on thick targets of isotopically enriched 186WO3. The proton energy was optimum for the simultaneous production of 186Re and 183Ta. The ALICE code was used to theoretically determine the optimum irradiation conditions for the production of 183Ta with proton and deuteron nuclear reactions. A Bio-imaging analyser was used to illustrate the migration of 183Ta species into a grass plant (Cyperus microiria steud). 183Ta has potential applications as a tracer for ecotoxicity studies, and for developmental studies for radiotantalum pharmaceuticals.