Article pubs.acs.org/IECR
Controlling Pu behavior on Titania: Implications for LEU FissionBased Mo-99 Production Amanda J. Youker,* M. Alex Brown, Thad A. Heltemes, and George F. Vandegrift Nuclear Engineering Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439, United States ABSTRACT: Molybdenum-99 is the parent isotope of the most widely used isotope, technetium-99m, in all diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures. Due to proliferation concerns associated with the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU), the preferred method of fission-based Mo-99 production uses low enriched uranium (LEU) targets. Using LEU versus HEU for Mo-99 production produces ∼30 times more Pu-239, due to neutron capture on U-238 to produce Np-239, which ultimately decays to Pu-239 (t1/2 = 24,110 yr). Argonne National Laboratory is supporting a potential US Mo99 producer in their efforts to produce Mo-99 from an LEU solution. In order to mitigate the generation of large volumes of greater-than-class-C (GTCC) low level waste (Pu-239 concentrations greater than 1 nCi/g), we have focused our efforts on the separation chemistry of Pu and Mo with a titania sorbent in sulfate media. Results from batch and column experiments show that temperature and acid wash concentration can be used to control Pu behavior on titania. salt solutions4,6each exhibiting advantages and disadvantages with respect to one another. Mo-99 production from an LEU (
