Open AccessNew head process for non-HEU 99Mo production based on the oxidation of irradiated UO2-pellets forming soluble U3O8
Author(s) -
G.J. Beyer,
Β. Eichler,
T. Reetz,
R. Muenze,
Jožef J. Čomor
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nuclear technology and radiation protection
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.31
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1452-8185
pISSN - 1451-3994
DOI - 10.2298/ntrp1601102b
Subject(s) - pellets , uranium oxide , ceramic , uranium , fission products , materials science , hot cell , head (geology) , production (economics) , process (computing) , nuclear engineering , plutonium , radiochemistry , nuclear fuel , nuclear material , depleted uranium , volume (thermodynamics) , process engineering , actinide , chemistry , computer science , nuclear chemistry , metallurgy , composite material , physics , engineering , geomorphology , economics , macroeconomics , geology , operating system , quantum mechanics
All fission-based 99Mo producers worldwide are required to convert their 99Mo production processes from using highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium. At a recent IAEA meeting in Vienna, problems related to bottlenecks and target modification and optimization of low-enriched uranium-based 99Mo production processes were discussed. Ceramic UO2-pellets (as used in fuel) were excluded from the discussion with the argument that this material cannot be dissolved under practically applicable conditions. In this paper, we suggest transforming the non-soluble ceramic UO2 fuel-pellets into the U3O8 form by simple oxidation and the use of the soluble U-oxide modification as the starting material for the 99Mo production processes. Due to the absence of Al, larger target quantities could be processed and the waste volume could still be kept small. The approach is known and proven in nuclear technology. In principle, this new head process can be connected to any of the presently used 99Mo production procedures