Transuranium Processing Plant semiannual report of production, status, and plans for period ending June 30, 1975

Technical Report · Mon Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7365376· OSTI ID:7365376

King, L. J.; Bigelow, J. E.; Collins, E. D.

During the period January 1, 1975, through June 30, 1975, the following amounts of transuranium elements were recovered from 22 irradiated HFIR targets: 2g /sup 243/Am, 59 g /sup 244/Cm, 51 mg /sup 249/Bk, 465 mg /sup 252/Cf, 2.5 mg /sup 253/Es, and 1.4 pg /sup 257/Fm. In addition, 45 mg of high-purity /sup 248/Cm was operated from /sup 252/Cf which had been recovered and purified during earlier periods, and 56 mg of a lower-quality /sup 248/Cm was separated from californium purification rework solutions. Five HFIR targets, each containing approximately 9 g of actinides (predominantly curium), were fabricated. A new long-term projection showed that /sup 252/Cf production in the TRU-HFIR complex could increase to as much as 2.5 g/year. During the next 18 months, we expect to recover totals of 46 mg of /sup 249/Bk, 520 mg of /sup 252/Cf, 2.0 mg of /sup 253/Es (in a mixture of isotopes), 220 ..mu..g of high-purity /sup 253/Es, and 1.6 pg of /sup 257/Fm. We also expect to obtain 125 mg of high-purity /sup 248/Cm from purified californium now in storage. There are no plans to process any of the remaining SRP Pu-Al tubes or to irradiate any plutonium targets in the HFIR; thus, we do not expect to recover any /sup 244/Pu. No changes were made in the chemical processing flowsheets normally used at TRU. Two neutron sources were fabricated, bringing the total fabricated to 77. In special projects, we (1) produced about 1 mg of /sup 250/Cf by irradiation of /sup 249/Bk in HFIR rabbits, and (2) processed some irradiated /sup 248/Cm samples and obtained yield and isotopic composition data for use in determining the capture cross section of /sup 249/Cm in the HFIR. The values that are currently being used for transuranium element decay data and for cross-section data in planning irradiation-processing cycles, calculating production forecasts, and assaying products are tabulated in the Appendix.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn. (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 7365376
• Report Number(s): ORNL-5084
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400703* -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Radioisotope Production
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AMERICIUM 243
AMERICIUM ISOTOPES
BERKELIUM 249
BERKELIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CALIFORNIUM 252
CALIFORNIUM ISOTOPES
CURIUM 244
CURIUM 248
CURIUM ISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EINSTEINIUM 253
EINSTEINIUM ISOTOPES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
FABRICATION
FERMIUM 257
FERMIUM ISOTOPES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPE PRODUCTION
ISOTOPES
NEUTRON SOURCES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PARTICLE SOURCES
PRODUCTION
RADIATION SOURCES
RADIOISOTOPES
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES