UNCLASSIFIED Mti a Qa Ma JU L
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' m ' S § € € UNCLASSIFIED CHBI*71T--»AaAnON KOCtUtl PCR K.IHOKIUM AND URANIUM 106 ALAN08 SCIEXTITIC LASORATOT of t h e m v t m m of c a l it o r * a --------------------------- - IIOA1 MOtiCI TNinpart mm imiw i mm tttt—< W0 *jr 10, 1951 i« | m>i < oHi m$m n * > w m «M h Afei Mpwi, «w Aat At «m «t Mf y — Hu, AwUmJ A Alt npart My « t In- prUnly «m 4 » I. Am « •«, »i* « A A w r f , t t b A t f m wMm A— At — «* —y ld t i t flt \ I* • p « M An Im 4 In Alt Mpait. Ai «iMI» lyakM^pMM AtMata***- pAy— m MHfcMtor «l *• A At «•** A* M l MtfttfM * «M AIt hi tA N O M f Mmtfte* fu*«Manl HMin* THE DECONTANDIATICN Of URAEXUH FRCP PISSXCM PRODUCTS BT THE USB OP THE URAHIL OXAUTI PRECIPITATION REACTION Report written byi DATE APR 12 1957 6. L. Ktlcnner For The Atomic Energy Commiteion mTi A Q a m AJUL Chief. DoelattifiCAtlon Branch ■X msUA m wmm WI | p mmsm COffitt® 1 1 1 * 1 ABSTRACT Decontamination factor* of the order of 10 vert obtain** for R « m and r toitura preecnt at flit loo product* vfata urtnlua vat precipi tated fro* 90 a C activity level *olutloae at uraayl oxalate undtr noraal urtniua yield condition* for three cycltt ( r & i ) • Factor* of tha order of 10^ vtrt obtained by the uat of this reaction vlth tladlar tolutloot undtr relatively high urtniua jrlald 0 condition* for thro* eyelet (~9<#). The urtniua parotid* precipitation reaction proved to ba of no m value on auch aolutiooe, yielding decontamination factor* of only 17.1 for 9 emitter* and 1.2 for r emitter* for three cycle*. -V: K g Reference*; P. A. Bo. CMH-B-b (5RP#0)| LA RoUbook 2957. ‘ ■ m •;>. r.Kg'-sy-g * s i ••• nHWFn'W'H A? ^.•&<y->\.111! Is COO&SOtlaO with tte RaU prog?** i t this laboratory, it VUI . proposed that 5 k4 of enriched uranium 1m subetttuted for the two ton* of l o m l uranium no* I m d U M 1a tte Sanford File to product ik n tte required quantity of active | | “ ;- This would relieve the prob- 1m of storing large volume* of highly active normal uranium eolu- I k A tlQBt after the fit ted t e a removed. However, tte monetary volte of enriched uranlua would necessitate ltd recovery and Aecontaains- IkA tion to that it could te recycled te a m r additional la wai rt- qutred. / /^lailtetU a of tte quantity o fte 1*0 needed for single ejq>eri**nta raaga up to 10,000 c, which would mod initial actititle* of tte ir radiated uranium on tte order of 10^C. Decontamination factor# (after m oral of tte Ba^°), therefore, should approach this value so that tte enriched uranium could be re-cycled through standard procesaea to flniated astal shapes with a Minima of ahislding of the opmtlooa Involved. Although auccesaful decontamination of uranluai from flesion pro ducts tea been achieved through the use of solvent exttmetion pro cesses, i t wae further proposed that precipitation reactions be in vestigated as to tb sir ab ility to dscoataaioate uranium under these conditions. Certain process advantages are obvious for preclplta- Jit msi ' m f e w ; - Iftlfelrf •m s * lilt/life •: > feir'inwv:;: CQ>JFID®mAl- tlon*type reactions. The urmniua pere&tde reaction (30* 8«0» M precipitant) and tha urmnyl onalabs reaction (fl*C*<vai#0 u precipitant) art both used extend vs ly mi thle laboratory for rifuUr cbeeical purlf teat loo. Tbit nport dsacribes their uet Tor the separation of ureniua free flttloQ product*. WM II - Experimental Consideration* ymWm 1. nature of activity at th* tla* of attested decontamination, It wee assumed at the outset of the problem that a cooling period would bo allowed prior to attempted decontamination. This 11would gs decrease . - the ^in itial’ activity by perhaps half and leave coat esdiua-llved, but chiefly long-lived, isotopes. This cooling period paww cr a t-fT T 'S f**b, vould here to be At such etmmug level u to permit direct handling of the aateriel within certain Use Unit*, end with the use of •lapis tooge. pel culat Iona. Thi* work vt» carried out on normal tumulus solutions to vhlch •m il quantities of ft to loo product activity warn added. Since nor- aal uranlua (eepectally old preparations) also contain* 0 and r actl- rity from certain laotopee la the natural decay chain, this radiation sat subtracted, froa the fla*Ion product activity. To obtain thtM blank valuta, "hot" experiments were duplicated by "cold" experl - aenta — actually preceded by them, thus also providing technique experience, especially in the use of tongs, remote vacuus transfers, etc. Solution allquota were counted before a precipitation vaa made. Then, a fte r the cake vaa washed, converted to an oxide, re-dissolved, wad amde up to a definite volume, solution allquota vara again counted. This value be cam the starting count for the next preclpl- tatlon, etc. In this manner, any value divided by i t s succeeding 1 value provided the decontamination factor for that precipitation; or, the Initial value divided by the final value of a series of precipi tation* would equal the total decontamination factor obtained for ■ W i mm i « |SiEi^^®';: w fiMPU Calculation*. The following calculation*, shovn in Table 1, war# fcyn l— t D-2, and are typical of the calculation* and* for all the m experlaeatal work, with the except ion of soae of the early experi- p%; mot* where no r activity determination* ware aad*. TABLE 1 8 Decontamination Result* Result, Total Corrected (naan) Activity, Total Acti c/a c/a v ity . c/a SECRET r Decontamination Results Sample Dtcco- Result, Total Corrected taain- Total Acti atlon Sais. Aliquot c/a vity. e/a factor starting soln., "hot" 1/2500 Too 1.75 * 10S 1.73 x 10*' starting sola., "cold" 1/8500 8 —2.00 x 10H J f i r s t ppt., "hot" 1/2500 39 9.75 * 1 0 S M 3 * 10 f i r s t pipt., "cold" 1/2500 20 5.00 X 10* 1 b.O second ppt., "hot" 8/5000 19 1.19 X lo S second ppt., "cold14 8/5000 53 5-32 X 10k j k.e th ird ppt., "hot" 8/5000 6 3.75 x io5'j 2.50 * iO5 third ppt., "cold” 8/5000 2 1.25 X 105 ) Total V - 692 •Average total 9 activity found for 30 gas. noxml U w i 2 x 10* c/a. **Awragi total r activity found for 50 gaa. normal u tat 2.5 a 10* c/a. eeesinca the blank value It higher than the hot value, It miMt be neglected. 3 and r counting of the sample# eat done by the RaLa chemistry group (CHR-10) • Counting results were corrected fo r background and coincidence before being reported to this group, lo further correc- •« ... • • n »• . ... ** • 1 • i.» »»» . • • ♦ • » ... » » ... 1 • :• 1: ::: 1.: w.... 5 «• ::■ • «• rnmmmmmm l&SMffigmi mm ' rnmmmsmSim^mrni 1Hi tioas w n applied to the calculations other thau the subtraction of blank Talt*». Decay of the activity over the experimental period was awai t, enough to be neglected. (8ee "Sources of Activity".) A swell fraction of the decontamination la attributable to uranlua yield it self — e.g., if a decontamination factor of b were obtained after a precipitation vhoea uranlua yield vat $OJt, then only half that decon tamination would be due to cheaioal purification. This is a severe •xasQle, however, and on the basis of uranlua yields and accoepaaylng decontamination factors given later In this report, yield effect* were negligible and no corrections vere wads for them. Sample Preparation. Aliquots were so arranged that one al of solution contained enough activity for a reasonably accurate beta count. This voluas of (solution vas evaporated in a glass cup 7/8" X.D. and l/b" deep. Duplicate sasplea were prepared and the cups placed in the counting chamber. The wean, corrected result was used in the calculation# as noted. 10 al solution aliquots vers given directly to Group CXR-10 for counting. This group carried out the sample preparation for these aliquots using annular type counting bottles. PPPP'P; Sources of Activity. :.r. - •Vv;7^v. • ;p3':: P;, & ^ Two sources of fiesion products were used to supply the 0 and r activity for the experiments: SECRET I". •** •’« » •" •** » •** • •'* »*• * * •• » . ...»>• ...< . ut.. i • S «•.. ..•• p i ■ 1. Uraayl nttraU •olutloo froa the Um AUk * eater boiler, th is •olutloo conUlo*4 k$Q o§. of uranlua (tt.9> V~S$5) per ml. Staples received after 3 w athe' decay emitted approximately 1*6 ■C o f r activity par ml, Manured by •array Mter*, aad at 7 mantle, 0.7 mC of r activity par ml, meaaured la the m m my. A maple taken for 0 count at tha beginning of the eaparimante ahoeed the following decay with respect to time: Dag e/». » 0 9 W b 9067 3 9 »5 6 9«rr> 7 90*8 10 88X0 TbcM data arc plotted in figure i. 2. Urmnyl nitrate tolutloo from the dl■•olutloo of a Chalk River Pile slug. Pour 30 aC eaaplaa vert received a fte r about ) months' da* cay, containing the following velghte of U and Pu per aaqplat total U • 2.65 am. U-255 . 0.016 e u . * 3 8 3 1 3 SP 1 r: - im tn w n rn v f ;^v-r<:^ JH H .