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Westinghouse, Nordion, and PSEG team up to produce Co‑60 in the United States
This past January, Westinghouse Electric Company, Nordion, and PSEG Nuclear formalized agreements to implement newly developed cobalt-60 production technology at Units 1 and 2 of PSEG’s Salem nuclear power plant in New Jersey, with the Co-60 to be supplied to Nordion. Through an ongoing joint initiative, the companies aim to harness U.S. pressurized water reactors to produce a key medical isotope and build the first commercial-scale Co-60 production platform in the United States.
R. C. Lloyd, C. R. Richey, E. D. Clayton, D. R. Skeen
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 25 | Number 2 | June 1966 | Pages 165-173
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE66-A17733
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of criticality experiments were performed with plutonium (4.6% 240Pu) nitrate solution in stainless steel spheres of 11.5-, 14-, and 15.2-in. diam. Reflectors of water, concrete, paraffin, and stainless steel were used; experiments were also performed on the 15.2-in. sphere unreflected. The spheres were made critical with plutonium concentrations varying from 24 to 435 g Pu/liter and molarity varying from 0.2 to 7.7. The minimum critical volumes for Pu(NO3)4 in water containing 4.6% 240Pu were determined to be about 22 and 11 liters, respectively, for bare and reflected spheres at a concentration of 175 g Pu/liter. The effect of a 0.030-in. cadmium shell or a 4-in. air gap between the reflector and the vessel reduced the reflector worth to that of a nominal reflector (1-in. of water or less) for the concentrations of plutonium measured. Comparisons were made between experimental and theoretical results using multigroup diffusion theory.