  130Te is one of the candidates for the search for neutrinoless double beta
decay. It is currently planned to be used in two experiments: CUORE and SNO+.
In the CUORE experiment TeO2 crystals cooled at cryogenic temperatures will be
used. In the SNO+ experiment natTe will be deployed up to 0.3% loading in the
liquid scintillator volume. A possible background for the signal searched for,
are the high Q-value, long-lived isotopes, produced by cosmogenic neutron and
proton spallation reaction on the target material. A total of 18 isotopes with
Q-value larger than 2 MeV and T1/2 >20 days have been identified as potential
backgrounds. In addition low Q-value, high rate isotopes can be problematic due
to pile-up effects, specially in liquid scintillator based detectors.
Production rates have been calculated using the ACTIVIA program, the TENDL
library, and the cosmogenic neutron and proton flux parametrization at sea
level from Armstrong and Gehrels for both long and short lived isotopes. The
obtained values for the cross sections are compared with the existing
experimental data and calculations. Good agreement has been generally found.
The results have been applied to the SNO+ experiment for one year of exposure
at sea level. Two possible cases have been considered: a two years of cooling
down period deep underground, or a first purification on surface and 6 months
of cooling down deep underground. Deep underground activation at the SNOLAB
location has been considered.
