Systems and methods for efficiently preparing plutonium-238 with high isotopic purity
AssigneeGeneral Atomics
InventorsTimothy Creston BERTCH, Lloyd Chauncey BROWN
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for preparing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) using reactor may include irradiating a liquid containing a neptunium-237 (Np-237) based compounds with neutrons to convert a portion of the Np-237 based compound to a Np-238 based compound; retaining the liquid containing the resulting mixture for a sufficient amount of time for the Np-238 based compound to at least partially convert to a plutonium-238 (Pu-238) based compound. The method further may include separating the Pu-238 based compound from the neptunium based compounds using distillation or chemical method.
Claims28
A system for preparing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) using neutrons emitted by a nuclear reactor, the system comprising:
- an irradiation unit configured to receive a liquid comprising a neptunium-237 (Np-237) based compound and to receive the neutrons emitted by the nuclear reactor such that the neutrons convert a portion of the Np-237 based compound to a neptunium-238 (Np-238) based compound, resulting in a liquid mixture of the Np-237 based compound and the Np-238 based compound;
- a decay unit configured to retain the resulting liquid mixture from the irradiation unit for a sufficient amount of time for the Np-238 based compound to at least partially convert to a plutonium-238 (Pu-238) based compound, resulting in a liquid mixture of the Np-237 based compound, the Np-238 based compound, and the Pu-238 based compound;
- and
- a separation unit configured to separate the Pu-238 based compound in the resulting liquid mixture from the decay unit from the Np-237 based compound and the Np-238 based compound in that mixture.
A method for preparing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) using neutrons emitted by a nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
- irradiating a liquid comprising a neptunium-237 (Np-237) based compound with the neutrons emitted by the nuclear reactor such that the neutrons convert a portion of the Np-237 based compound to a neptunium-238 (Np-238) based compound, resulting in a liquid mixture of the Np-237 based compound and the Np-238 based compound;
- retaining the resulting liquid mixture for a sufficient amount of time for the Np-238 based compound to at least partially convert to a plutonium-238 (Pu-238) based compound, resulting in a mixture of the Np-237 based compound, the Np-238 based compound, and the Pu-238 based compound;
- and
- separating the Pu-238 based compound in the resulting liquid mixture following the retaining step from the Np-237 based compound and the Np-238 based compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.