Reductions in the manufacturing cycle for the fluorination process of the 234-5 Building

In the dry chemistry process of the Metal Fabrication Building, plutonium oxalate as received from the Isolation Building is converted to plutonium tetrafluoride and the fluoride is then reduced to the metal. This document discusses the oxalate-fluoride conversion which involves oxidation of the oxalate and subsequent fluorination of the oxide, utilizing anhydrous HF gas. Batch operation is practiced. The standard batch for the period covered by this report was 400 g Pu