Abstract

The CST-11 objective for the Radioactive Source Recovery Project is to evaluate a nitric acid-based flowsheet and alternatives for dissolution, separation, and recovery of americium from AmBe neutron source materials returned from private and governmental institutions. Specific tasks performed during FY97 and FY98 included the experimental investigation of material dissolution rate and efficiency as a function of time and temperature for nitric acid as compared to hydrochloric acid. Alkaline dissolution reaction conditions using sodium hydroxide and ammonium bifluoride were also investigated. In both the acidic and alkaline dissolution conditions, the objective was to effect an initial separation of the americium from the beryllium or vice versa. The process solution and remaining solids should also be amenable to further processing and purification schemes. This work was performed on actual AmBe neutron source material in order to demonstrate the feasibility of {sup 241}Am purification from dismantled neutron sources.

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