Table 2.2 Uses and Availabilities of Plutonium Isotopes

DOE-STD-1128-98

Table 2.2 Uses and Availabilities of Plutonium Isotopes

Isotopes

Uses

Availability

Pu, 237Pu

236

Popular environmental and biological chemical

Both available in microcurie

.quantities.(a)

tracers

238

Small thermal and electric-power generators.

Available in various isotopic

enrichments, ranging from 78%

99+%.(a)

239

Nuclear weapons and as a fast reactor fuel. Also,

Available enrichments range

frequently used in chemical

from 97% to 99.99+%.(a)

research where

production-grade material of mixed isotopic content

is suitable.

240

Principally in flux monitors for fast reactors.

Available enrichments range

from 93% to99+%.(a)

241

The parent from which high-assay 241Am can be

Samples available in

isolated for industrial purposes.

enrichments of 93%(a)

242

For study of the physical properties of plutonium;

Samples available in

also as a mass spectroscopy tracer and standard.

enrichments ranging from

95% to 99.9+%; enrichments of

production-grade material

range from 85% to 95%.(a)

244

Currently, the only isotope available as a National

Can be obtained from DOE's

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

New Brunswick Laboratory.

Standard Reference Material (SRM) (b)

(a)

Available in small quantities from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL): ORNL Isotopes Sales Office,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box X, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830.

A second NIST/SRM (a 1:1 mixture of 239Pu and 242Pu) is being prepared, and a third (239Pu) is planned for

(b)

the future.

2.1.2 Laser Isotope Separation Process

Several new technologies are being considered to provide more highly purified

plutonium isotopes for various purposes. One of these processes, laser isotope

separation (LIS), has the potential to purify 239Pu from almost any source of

plutonium. The LIS process produces a product enriched in 239Pu and a byproduct

that contains the remaining plutonium isotopes. It is conceivable that the byproduct

stream could be further purified to produce a specific plutonium isotope, such as

238Pu used for isotopic heat sources.

The LIS process has many benefits. It can significantly reduce external radiation

exposure to both neutron and gamma radiations for the product enriched in 239Pu.

(Potential exposure problems from the byproduct stream are discussed later in this

section.) The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) and the

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