The radioactive nuclide ^(225)Ac is one of the few promising candidates for cancer treatment by targeted- α -therapy, but worldwide production of ^(225)Ac faces significant limitations. In this work, the Isotope Separation On-Line method was used to produce actinium by irradiating targets made of uranium carbide and thorium carbide with 1.4-GeV protons. Actinium fluoride molecules were formed, ionized through electron impact, then extracted and mass-separated as a beam of molecular ions. …