MOUND ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: DEVELOPMENT OF A SOL-GEL PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DENSE 238PuO2 MICROSPHERES

摘要

Equipment for the preparation of 238PuO2 sols and con¬version to dense microspheres was fabricated, installed in a stainless steel enclosure (box), and shipped to Mound Labora¬tory. After the box had been installed, ORNL personnel par¬ticipated in a program of system checkout, continuing process development, and equipment modification. When difficulties were encountered due to the processing of larger batches of material, electron microscopy was utilized to identify two problem areas: (1) partial hydrolysis of the feed was pre¬venting the formation of highly crystalline plutonium poly¬mer, and (2) degradation of polymer was occurring during evaporation to dryness. The depolymerization process is similar to the simple dissolution of PuO2 and is a function of time, temperature, and acid concentration.