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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.
T. A. Gens, R. E. Blanco
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 11 | Number 3 | November 1961 | Pages 267-273
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE61-A26002
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A Modified Zirflex process was developed in the laboratory for dissolution of 1–10 % uranium-zirconium alloy fuels clad in Zircaloy-2 to produce a nitrate solution from which uranium can be recovered by conventional solvent extraction methods. A flowsheet is presented for dissolution of 7% uranium-zirconium alloy in 5.4 M NH4F-0.33 M NH4NO3. Enough 1 M H2O2 is added continually during dissolution to yield 0.13 M H2O2 in the final solution, neglecting the amount reacting. Dissolution of a 70-mil thick sample is complete in 1 hr. The solvent extraction feed is prepared by adding aluminum nitrate and nitric acid to the dissolver solution to yield a stable solvent extraction feed solution of 0.0075 M uranium, 0.25 M zirconium, 1 M aluminum, 2 M fluoride, and 1 M nitric acid. The off-gas is approximately 98.5% NH6, 1% H2, 0.3% O2, and 0.2% N2. Conventional stainless steel such as 309SNb or Hastelloy F appear to be suitable materials of construction with corrosion rates varying from 0.1 to 3.0 mils/month.