THE PRODUCTION OF C$sup 14$ BY THE Be$sub 3$$N$$sub 2$ PROCESS

Technical Report · Wed Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1956

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/4324224· OSTI ID:4324224

Shields, R. P.

The first C/sup 14/ produced under the Radioisotope program of the Atomic Energy Commission was made by the ORNL Physics Division with equipment that circulated a saturated solutioa of ammonium nitrate through the graphite reactor. The process was discontinued when a program for irradiating calcium nitrate was started in 1946. The calcium nitrate program was terminated by December 1950, at which time the beryllium nitride process was under way. In the beryllium nitride process, sulfuric acid is used to adssolve the beryllium nitride, thereby releasing the organic compounds and carbon dioxide which contain the C/sup 14/. These gases are carried by a stream of ntrogen through a gas train, which includes a CuO furnace to oxdize the organic compounds, and through sodium hydroxide scrubbers to absorb the carbon dioxdde. The product is obtained by precipitating the carbonate from the scrubber solution with barium hydroxide. (auth)

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn.
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• NSA Number: NSA-12-008373
• OSTI ID: 4324224
• Report Number(s): ORNL-1962
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ADSORPTION
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
BARIUM CARBONATES
BARIUM HYDROXIDES
BERYLLIUM NITRIDES
CALCIUM NITRATES
CARBON 14
CHEMISTRY
COPPER OXIDES
FURNACES
GAS FLOW
GASES
GRAPHITE MODERATOR
IN PILE LOOPS
IRRADIATION
LABELLED COMPOUNDS
NITRATES
NITROGEN
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PRECIPITATION
PRODUCTION
RADIOCHEMISTRY
REACTORS
SCRUBBERS
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
SOLUTIONS
SULFURIC ACID