DOE OSTI2012
Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is assisting Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Group (BWTSG) in their efforts to develop an aqueous homogenous reactor (AHR) for the production of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99). Several different titania-based sorbents and alumina have been investigated as potential candidates for the development of a separation and recovery column for Mo-99 from a uranyl nitrate solution. A pure titania sorbent with 80-μm particles and 60-Å pores (S80) was initially chosen for the plant-scale column. However, ZirChrom Separations, Inc., discontinued their Sachtopore (pure titania) sorbent with 80-μm particles and 60-Å pores. As a result, Argonne has tested several other Sachtopore sorbents with different particle and pore sizes in an effort to find a replacement for S80. Initial Versatile Reaction Separation (VERSE) column designs suggest that S40 is the best replacement for S80; however, experimental results show that a significant amount of Mo does not adsorb on the S40 sorbent. S110 performs much better than S40, and the S110 column designs are final designs for the plant-scale operation and the mini- Medical Isotope Production System (mini-MIPS).