Publication Type
Conference Paper
Book Title
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space, American Nuclear Society Topical Meeting
Publication Date
Conference Name
Nuclear and Emerging Technologies for Space (NETS 2019)
Conference Location
Richland, Washington, United States of America
Conference Sponsor
American Nuclear Society
Conference Date
-
Abstract
Current production of 238Pu at Oak Ridge National Laboratory uses NpO2–aluminum cermet pellets as the feed material. The advantage of cermet is that its thermal conductivity is much higher than that of the oxide alone, which greatly reduces pellet temperatures. However, the melting point of the material is quite low due to the aluminum in the matrix, and the recovery of the 238Pu results in substantial radioactive liquid waste. There is potentially both a significant production gain and a reduction in post-irradiation processing cost and waste associated with using a pure NpO2 pellet. This work describes ongoing efforts to design a NpO2 pellet to maximize production of 238Pu in the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
