Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
2005 International RERTR Meeting

PROGRESS IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT FOR CONVERSION OF ⁹⁹Mo PRODUCTION--BATAN'S (INDONESIA) CONVERSION PROGRAM, PROGRESS IN THE CNEA (ARGENTINA) LEU FOIL/BASESIDE PROCESS, AND DEVELOPMENT OF INORGANIC SORBENTS FOR ⁹⁹Mo PRODUCTION

Allen J. Bakel, Dominique C. Stepinski, George F. Vandegrift,
Argentina Leyva, Artem V. Gelis, Andrew H. Bond, and Heather Mayes

Argonne National Laboratory
Chemical Engineering Division
Argonne, Illinois, USA

ABSTRACT

Currently, nearly all of the world's supply of ⁹⁹Mo is produced from the fissioning of ²³⁵U in targets of high-enriched uranium (HEU). Conversion of these targets to low-enriched uranium (LEU) would ease worldwide concern over the use and transport of this weapons-grade material. This paper reviews three projects:

1. the ongoing conversion of BATAN's ⁹⁹Mo production process from HEU oxide targets (Cintichem processing) to LEU foil targets (Cintichem processing),
2. demonstration of LEU foil targets and base-side processing in CNEA's facility, and
3. the evaluation of two inorganic Thermoxid sorbents for Mo recovery and purification in acidic U-bearing solutions.

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