Alkaline Peroxide Processing of Low-Enriched Uranium Targets for ⁹⁹Mo Production—Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide

The recent progress on the alkaline peroxide processing of low-enriched uranium targets for the production of ⁹⁹Mo, a parent nuclide of the widely used medical isotope ^99mTc, is reported. Kinetic studies were undertaken to investigate the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide in alkaline solution in contact with a uranium metal surface. It was found that the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide essentially follows the kinetic trend of uranium dissolution and can be classified into two regimes, depending on the hydroxide concentration. In the low-base regime (<0.2 M), both the hydrogen peroxide and hydroxide concentrations affect the rate of peroxide decomposition. In the high-base regime (>0.2 M), the rate of peroxide decomposition is independent of alkali concentration. When the acid/base equilibrium between H₂O₂ and O₂H⁻ is taken into account, the overall rate of hydrogen peroxide disappearance can be described as a 0.25th order reaction with respect to hydrogen peroxide concentration over NaOH concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 5 M. Empirical kinetics models are proposed and discussed.