Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
1995 International RERTR Meeting

PROCESSING OF LEU TARGETS FOR MO-99 PRODUCTION --
DISSOLUTION OF U3SI2 TARGETS BY ALKALINE HYDROGEN PEROXIDE*

B. A. Buchholz and G. F. Vandegrift
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne, Illinois U.S.A.

Presented at the1995 International Meeting on
Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors
September 18-21, 1995
Paris, France

*Work supported by the US Department of Energy
Office of Nonproliferation and National Security
under Contract No. W-31-109-38-ENG.

ABSTRACT

Low-enriched uranium silicide targets designed to recover fission product Mo-99 were dissolved in alkaline hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 plus NaOH) at about 90 degC. Sintering of matrix aluminum powder during irradiation and heat treatment retarded aluminum dissolution and prevented silicide particle dispersion. Gas evolved during dissolution is suspected to adhere to particles and block hydroxide ion contact with aluminum. Reduction of base concentrations from 5M to 0.1M NaOH yielded similar silicide dissolution and peroxide destruction rates, simplifying later processing. Future work in particle dispersion enhancement, Mo-99 separation, and waste disposal is also discussed.

---

---