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under contract W-7405-ENG-36.

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We have developed a process for converting impure plutonium dioxide ("^96% pure) to high-purity plutonium metal (>99.9%). The process consists of reducing the oxide to an impure plutonium metal intermediate with calcium metal in molten calcium chloride. The impure intermediate metal is cast into an anode and electrorefined to produce high-purity plutonium metal. The oxide reduction step is being done now on a O.6-kg scale with the resulting yield being >99.5%. The electrorefining is being done on a 4.0-kg scale with the resulting yield being 80-85%. The purity of the product, which aver¬ ages 99.98%, is essentially insensitive to the purity of the ieed metal. The yield, however, is directly dependent on the chemical composition of the feed. To date, approximately 250 kg of impure oxide has been converted to pure metal by this processing sequence. The availability of impure plutonium dioxide, together with the need for pure plutonium metal, makes this sequence a valu¬ able plutonium processing tool. I. '1 20 Max' 0.50 Hax c C Values ntighc be raised if these limits present a problem. Carbon is removed in the oxide roasting step. The carbon co of an electrorefining feed, however should not exceed 0.3&%.

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