Separation and Purification of Berkelium-249 and Einsteinium-254

Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1615813· OSTI ID:1615813

Boll, Rose A. ^[1]; Dyer, T. A. ^[1]; Ezold, Julie G. ^[1]; Phelps, Clarice E. ^[1]; Phillips, Kayla M. ^[1]; Porter, Curtis E. ^[1]; Rayburn, Joseph L. ^[1]; Riley, Jr, Frank D. ^[1]; Sims, Nathan J. ^[1]; Van Cleve, Shelley M. ^[1]

---

1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Berkelium-249 (²⁴⁹Bk) and einsteinium-254 (²⁵⁴Es) are isotopes of great importance for the investigation of berkelium and einsteinium chemical properties and super heavy element research. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to isolate acceptable, pure quantities of both isotopes to further research capabilities. These isotopes, along with californium-252 (²⁵²Cf), are synthesized through the irradiation of mixed-curium targets in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), which has the highest continuous thermal neutron flux in the world. Once irradiated, the targets are transferred to the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center for further chemical processing and final purification to separate ²⁴⁹Bk and ²⁵⁴Es from the remainder of isotopes present. Several methods of separation, such as the Berkex batch solvent extraction along with cation-exchange and alpha-hydroxy-isobutyrate (AHIB) columns, are employed to achieve a clean separation of the isotopes. Production Campaigns 74–77 are discussed in depth for ²⁵²Cf, ²⁴⁹Bk, and ²⁵⁴Es production and isolation of ²⁴⁹Bk and ²⁵⁴Es. An attempt to isolate ²⁵⁷Fm in Campaign 77 is discussed as well. Table 1 summarizes the total amount of material isolated in each campaign.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP) (SC-26)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1615813
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-2019/1283
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY