Kevin Quigley

SCALABILITY OF THE LEU-MODIFIED CINTICHEM PROCESS

Argonne National Laboratory with the National Nuclear Security Admiration’s (NNSA) Material Minimization and Management program (M 3 ), in partnership with SHINE Medical Technologies are developing technologies for the domestic production of 99 Mo. SHINE is planning to produce 99 Mo by fission of low enriched uranium (LEU) in a subcritical aqueous solution using an accelerator-based neutron generation. In support of this goal, irradiations at Argonne’s Van-de-Graaff facility simulating LINAC irradiations were performed. The LEU-Modified Cintichem process has been chosen by SHINE to process their irradiated solutions. However, Cintichem rarely processed more than 1000 Ci of 99 Mo in a single batch. A concern is the Mo-ABO complex will break down under high dose conditions, causing a decrease in the recovery of 99 Mo. Irradiations of the MoABO solid have been performed and the results will be discussed.