Development of Procedures and Equipment for Fabrication of the High Flux Isotope Reactor Target Rods

The High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Transuranium Processing Facility at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory will produce research quantities of such transplutonic elements as americium, curium, and californium. The process being developed to fabricate both first-cycle and recycle target rods for irradiation of actinide elements in the High Flux Isotope Reactor consists of powder-metallurgical, welding, and inspection operations. Two lines of equipment, one for the fabrication of target rods bearing Pu²⁴² oxide and one for fabrication of target rods bearing recycle oxide, are being developed. The fabrication of Pu²⁴² target rods is to be done in glove boxes; but, because of the emission of both gamma rays and neutrons from the recycle nuclides, remote fabrication of recycle target rods is required.