Richland five-year 02 R&D program, plutonium-238

Technical Report · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1967

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/26562· OSTI ID:26562

There are three principal facets to the Pu-238 Program which are important to Richland. First, reactor neptunium production rates can be materially enhanced by judicious fuel management plans. Second, significant improvement in production efficiency and costs can be made if the Pu-238 production step (irradiation of Np-237) were sited at Richland. Further, Richland reactors have ample capacity, without reducing power, to irradiate all neptunium from government and commercial reactor sources which has been forecasted well into the 1980`s. Third, a separate Pu-238 production process, that of irradiating Am-241 (obtained from power reactor plutonium returns), offers an attractive and competitive means to materially supplement Pu-238 from the Np-237 route. The first two of these aspects of the Pu-238 Program are being pursued actively, particularly in light of firm and predicted requirements for Pu-238. Technological development for irradiating and processing Am-241 will be carried out in the near future.

• Research Organization: USDOE Richland Operations Office, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 26562
• Report Number(s): RL--3-4; ON: DE95006954
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
HANFORD PRODUCTION REACTORS
HANFORD RESERVATION
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
IRRADIATION
NEPTUNIUM 237
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems
PLUTONIUM
PRODUCTION
RESEARCH PROGRAMS