Separation of thorium from uranium ore

Kmak, Kelly N.; Shaughnessy, Dawn A.; Vujic, Jasmina

doi:10.1007/s10967-019-06980-1

Title: Separation of thorium from uranium ore

Journal Article · 06 December 2019 · Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-019-06980-1 · OSTI ID:1826097

Kmak, Kelly N. ^[1]; Shaughnessy, Dawn A. ^[2]; Vujic, Jasmina ^[3]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Thorium-230 has many research applications, but there is not a commercial source of this isotope. However, since ²³⁰Th is part of the ²³⁸U decay chain, it can be separated from naturally occurring uranium. In this work, a novel procedure was developed to separate thorium from uranium ore, consisting of leaching, liquid–liquid extraction, precipitations and ion exchange chromatography. Here, the final product was 91.32 ± 0.77 mg of thorium with a purity of 99.5 ± 1.2 wt%. Of that, 7.65 ± 0.10 mg was ²³⁰Th and the remainder ²³²Th. The total yield of ²³⁰Th was 71.1 ± 5.4%. Ways to improve the yield by further processing the back-extraction solution are suggested.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States). Nuclear Science and Security Consortium; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; NA0003180

OSTI ID:: 1826097

Journal Information:: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, Journal Name: Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 323; ISSN 0236-5731

Publisher:: SpringerCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
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