Issue 6, 2020, Issue in Progress

Gas-phase molybdenum-99 separation from uranium dioxide by fluoride volatility using nitrogen trifluoride

Abstract

Production of the important 99mTc medical isotope parent, molybdenum-99 (99Mo), via the fissioning of high- and low-enriched uranium (HEU/LEU) targets followed by target dissolution in acid and solution-phase purification of 99Mo is time-consuming, generates quantities of corrosive radioactive waste, and can result in the release of an array of radionuclides to the atmosphere. An alternative 99Mo purification method has been devised that has the potential to alleviate many of these issues. Herein, we demonstrate the feasibility of a rapid Mo/Tc gas-phase separation from UO2. The results indicate that volatile [99Mo]Mo can be captured downstream of the reacted solid mixture on a column bed (trap) of alumina; the majority of the captured [99Mo]Mo can be subsequently eluted from the alumina trap with a few milliliters of water. >1.0 × 105 single pass decontamination of U and the collected [99Mo]Mo product is demonstrated. This simple thermo-fluorination technique has the potential to provide a rapid methodology for routine 99Mo production.

Graphical abstract: Gas-phase molybdenum-99 separation from uranium dioxide by fluoride volatility using nitrogen trifluoride

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 Dec 2019
Accepted
07 Jan 2020
First published
21 Jan 2020
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2020,10, 3472-3478

Gas-phase molybdenum-99 separation from uranium dioxide by fluoride volatility using nitrogen trifluoride

B. K. McNamara, M. J. O'Hara, R. A. Clark, S. S. Morrison, C. Z. Soderquist and R. D. Scheele, RSC Adv., 2020, 10, 3472 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA10270A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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