Abstracts and Available Papers Presented at the
1998 International RERTR Meeting

Progress in Developing Processes for Converting ⁹⁹Mo Production
from High- to Low-Enriched Uranium-1998

C. Conner, M. W. Liberatore, A. Mutalib, J. Sedlet, D. Walker, and G F. Vandegrift

Chemical Technology Division
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Avenue
Argonne, IL 60439, USA

ABSTRACT

During 1998, the emphasis of our activities was focused mainly on target fabrication. Successful conversion requires a reliable irradiation target; the target being developed uses thin foils of uranium metal that can be removed from the target hardware for dissolution and processing. This paper describes successes in (1) improving our method for heat-treating the uranium foil to produce a random small grain structure, (2) improving electrodeposition of zinc and nickel fission fragment barriers onto the foil, and (3) showing that these fission fragment barriers should be stable during transport of the targets following irradiation. A method for quantitatively electrodepositing uranium and plutonium contaminants in the ⁹⁹Mo was also developed. Progress was also made in broadening international cooperation in our development activities.