Gadolinium-153 production at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987

OSTI ID:5338758

Ramey, D W

Gadolinium-153 production at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) involves the neutron irradiation of natural europium oxide (47.8% /sup 151/Eu, 52.2% /sup 153/Eu). This target material undergoes a series of neutron captures and radioactive decays to produce the desired /sup 153/Gd product. Several undesirable europium isotopes (/sup 152/Eu, /sup 154/Eu, and /sup 156/eu) are also produced during this irradiation process. Recent technical advances and other improvements in the radiochemical processing of this isotope have allowed ORNL to increase production by more than sevenfold. A newly developed electrochemical process has allowed the separation of the bulk of undesirable europium isotopes and has also affected a more efficient use of high-pressure ion exchange to achieve a final product radiochemical purity >99.999%. Specific activities >60 Ci/g of gadolinium oxide and product specific yields >2.9 Ci/g of irradiated europium oxide have been produced. Use of unique glove box manipulators and special equipment designed at ORNL have allowed final source fabrication to keep pace with the increased production rate while minimizing the radiation exposure to operating personnel.

• OSTI ID: 5338758
• Report Number(s): CONF-870822-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
CHEMICAL REACTION YIELD
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CHROMATOGRAPHY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DECOMPOSITION
DOSES
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
EUROPIUM COMPOUNDS
EUROPIUM ISOTOPES
EUROPIUM OXIDES
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
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HADRONS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ION EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY
IRRADIATION
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MEDICINE
MINIMIZATION
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
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NEUTRONS
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
ORNL
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERSONNEL
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
RADIATION CHEMISTRY
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIOLOGY
RADIOLYSIS
RADIOTHERAPY
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
RARE EARTH ISOTOPES
RARE EARTH NUCLEI
SEPARATION PROCESSES
THERAPY
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
YIELDS