System and method for preparing high isotopic purity plutonium -238 efficiently

摘要

A method for preparing plutonium-238 (Pu-238) includes using a nuclear reactor in irradiating a liquid containing a neptunium-237 (Np-237) based compound with neutrons to convert a portion of the Np-237 based compound to a Np-238 based compound; retaining the liquid containing the resulting mixture for a sufficient amount of time for the Np-238 based compound to at least partially convert to a Pu-238 based compound; and separating the Pu-238 based compound from the neptunium based compounds using fractional distillation or a chemical separation method.