Coordination of Plutonium Separations

Conference · Sun Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:1771917

Wham, Robert  ^[1]; DePaoli, David  ^[1]; Benker, Dennis  ^[1]; Delmau, Laetitia Helene  ^[1]

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1. ORNL

NASA and the Department of Energy (DOE) are currently working together to reestablish a 238Pu supply capability using DOE's existing facilities and reactors. The effort is being led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Target rods, containing neptunium oxide (NpO2), are fabricated at ORNL and irradiated in the ORNL High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) currently and soon will be irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Irradiated targets are processed in hot cells at the ORNL Radiochemical Engineering Center to recover the plutonium (Pu) product and unconverted neptunium (Np) for recycle. The 238PuO2 product is shipped to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for fabrication of heat source pellets. Key activities, such as the transport of the neptunium to ORNL, irradiation of neptunium, and chemical processing to recover the newly generated 238Pu, have been demonstrated with the initial amounts of ~100 g heat-source plutonium oxide (HS PuO2) produced. Product samples have been shipped to LANL for evaluation, including chemical impurity analysis. This paper will examine the status of producing new 238Pu from irradiated targets.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1771917
• Resource Relation: Conference: 2017 ANS Winter Meeting and Nuclear Technology Expo - Washington, Virginia, United States of America - 10/29/2017 8:00:00 AM-11/2/2017 8:00:00 AM
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English