The Transuranium Element Program

Facilities and Equipment

Target rods containing principally curium oxide are remotely fabricated at the REDC, irradiated in the HFIR, and then processed at the REDC for the separation and purification of the heavy actinide elements. All elements from plutonium through fermium are separated and purified. Portions of the americium and curium are refabricated into targets for additional irradiations. The berkelium, californium, einsteinium and fermium are distributed to researchers. A portion of the californium product is used in the Californium Sales/Loan Program. More than 1000 shipments of these materials have been made to approximately 30 different laboratories in the United States and several foreign countries.

The heart of the REDC (Bldg.7920) is a battery of nine heavily shielded hot cells housed in a two-story building. Of the nine cells, four contain chemical processing equipment for dissolution, solvent extraction, ion exchange, and precipitation operations. Three contain equipment for the preparation and inspection of transuranium element targets, while one cell is used for analytical chemistry operations and another is used for waste collection and sorting. In addition, there are eight laboratories (four on each floor) used for process development, for process-control analysis and for final product purification and packaging operation.

Within each shielded cell, process equipment is enclosed in a fixed containment box (the cell cubicle) which is about a two meter cube. Small items of chemical processing equipment, such as valves, pumps, ion exchange columns and solution sampling devices are mounted on racks in the cubicles. This equipment can be installed or removed remotely by using manipulators and air-operated impact wrenches. Contaminated equipment can be introduced into or removed from the cell cubicles through an inter-cell conveyor to a glove box or to a shielded carrier at a loading station at one end of the cell bank. Alternatively, equipment may be introduced or removed through the top of the cubicle by use of a shielded caisson (transfer case) designed to maintain shielding and contamination control during the transfer.