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Krebs, J. F.

Publications and source records attributed to Krebs, J. F..

Irradiation of 20L LEU Uranyl Sulfate Solution for Production of Mo-99

Argonne National Laboratory, with support from the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Material Management and Minimization, is assisting SHINE Medical Technologies in the development of accelerator-driven production of 99 Mo using low-enriched uranium (LEU). Technetium-99m ( 99m Tc), a daughter of 99 Mo, is a workhorse of nuclear medicine, used in approximately 40,000 medical testing procedures each day just in the U.S.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Production of Medical Isotopes with Electron Linacs

Radioisotopes play important roles in numerous areas ranging from medical treatments to national security and basic research. Radionuclide production technology for medical applications has been pursued since the early 1900s both commercially and in nuclear science centers. Many medical isotopes are now in routine production and are used in day-to-day medical procedures. Despite these advancements, research is accelerating around the world to improve the existing production methodologies as well as to develop novel radionuclides for new medical appli-cations. Electron linear accelerators (linacs) represent a unique method for the production of radioisotopes. Even though the basic technology has been around for decades, only recently have electron linacs capable of producing photons with sufficient energy and flux for radioisotope production become available. Housed in Argonne Nation-al Laboratory’s Low Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF) is a newly upgraded 55 MeV/25-kW electron linear ac-celerator, capable of producing a wide range of radioiso-topes. This talk will focus on the work being performed for the production of the medical isotopes 99Mo (99Mo/99mTc generator), 67Cu, and 47Sc.

Cu-67↗

Accelerator-Driven Production of Fission 99Mo

I{esults al'e reportecl for the procluction of eeMo l'rom the accelerator-clriveu subcritical fission of a low enriohed uranir¡m (Ltju) aqì.reous solution. Phase I ol'these experiments used a 5 L r.rranyl sulfate solution with a eeMo encl-of-irracliation produotion limit of 2 Ci. The separation, recovery, and pulification of eeMo were demonstrated Lrsing the recyclecl solution. Fission product paltitioriing tl'ends will be shown for the recovery colutt'ttt, concentratiorl colurnn, and LE,U Modified Cintichem prooess. The results fi'om a 1.4 Ci oeMo production run, where the fìnal product was seut to GE Flealthcare for testing, will be highlightecl. The information gained cluring Phase ì lias signilìcantly irnpacted the clesign and implernentation of Phase ll. Phase II focuses on an end-of-irradiation ploduction of 20 Ci of eeMo and a fissior'ì power density similar to the production fàcility in a20 L LìlU uranyl sulfate solution.

accelerator↗

Used nuclear fuel separations process simulation and testing

Recent efforts in separations process simulation at Argonne have expanded from the traditional focus on solvent extraction flowsheet design in order to capture process dynamics and to simulate other components, processing and systems of a used nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. For example, the Argonne Model for Universal Solvent Extraction (AMUSE) code has been enhanced to make it both more portable and more readily extensible. Moving away from a spreadsheet environment makes the addition of new species and processes simpler for the expert user, which should enable more rapid implementation of chemical models that simulate evolving processes. The dyAMUSE (dynamic AMUSE) version allows the simulation of transient behavior across an extractor. Electrochemical separations have now been modeled using spreadsheet codes that simulate the electrochemical recycle of fast reactor fuel. The user can follow the evolution of the salt, products, and waste compositions in the electro-refiner, cathode processors, and drawdown as a function of fuel batches treated. To further expand capabilities in integrating multiple unit operations, a platform for linking mathematical models representing the different operations that comprise a reprocessing facility was adapted to enable systems-level analysis and optimization of facility functions. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Van de Graaff Experiments: Mo Redox Chemistry and Iodine Speciation

Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is assisting Morgridge Institute for Research (MIR) in its efforts to develop SHINE, which is an accelerator-driven process that will use a uranyl-sulfate solution for the production of Mo-99. Mo will be separated from an irradiated uranyl-sulfate solution using a titania sorbent; however, the highly reducing environment may lead to Mo reduction. If Mo is reduced to Mo(IV) or Mo(V), its adsorption and/or recovery will decrease, and an oxidizing agent will be required to ensure that Mo is present as Mo(VI). Another concern for SHINE is related to the speciation of iodine during irradiation, cooling, column loading and stripping, and Mo-99 purification. Both Mo oxidation state and iodine speciation experiments were performed using a Van de Graaff generator as a source of radiation. Initial results indicate that Mo may be reduced during irradiation because low Mo recoveries were obtained for three separate column experiments performed using irradiated solutions. The results were complicated, however, because nearly 60 min passed between the end of irradiation and the initiation of column experiments, and high back pressures were observed for two out of the three experiments. This also made it difficult to determine what variable caused low Mo recovery. Radiation dose and starting iodine species had no effect on overall iodine speciation, and iodide was the predominant species for all tests.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗