2.5.3. Characterization of Radioactive Impurities Produced during Irradiation

Typical impurities in the production of <sup>89</sup>Zr are <sup>88</sup>Y, <sup>88</sup>Zr, <sup>89</sup>Y, <sup>90</sup>Zr and <sup>56</sup>Fe. Usually, impurities are derived from impure starting materials (89Y), produced during proton bombardment due to inappropriate beam energy (88Y and <sup>88</sup>Zr) or introduced via the buffers and recourses (90Zr and <sup>56</sup>Fe). These impurities can be reduced using proper buffers and recourses and some of these impurities were removed by purifying the <sup>89</sup>Zr-solution using a hydroxamate column. All impurities were characterized using gamma-spectroscopy using a high purity germanium (HPGe) detector (Ortec, Oak Ridge, TN, USA).
