Formation of activation products in interactions of medium energy protons with Na, Si, P, S, Cl, Ca and Fe

Excitation functions of (p, x)- processes on the elements Na, Si, P, S, Cl, Ca and Fe, leading to the formation of Na-22,Na-24 and the medium mass act ivation products K-42,K-43, Ca-47, Sc-44m,Sc-47, V-48, Cr-48,Cr-51 Mn-52,Mn -54, Fe-52 and Co-55, were measured over the proton energy range of 70 to 3 55 MeV using the stacked-foil technique. The product activity could be meas ured non-destructively via gamma-ray spectrometry. Experimental results wer e compared with theoretical data obtained using the modified hybrid nuclear model code ALICE-IPPE (1998) for intermediate energies. The agreement was found to be generally satisfactory below 70 MeV. The processes Cl-nat(p, x) Na-22,Si-nat(p, x)Na-22,Na-24, P-31(p,x)Na-22 and Fe-nat(p, x)V-48, Co-55, Mn-54, Cr-51, described reasonably well by the theory even at higher energi es. An activity estimate showed that the contribution of medium mass activa tion products to the total tissue and bone activation during proton therapy is negligible.