The possibilities of237Np and241Am disposal by transmutation in their irradiation with thermal neutrons in porous immobilizing agents

Technetium: behaviour during reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel and in environmental objects

“…170 Apparently, the full-scale solution of the problem of 99 Tc burning should involve one of the modes of transmutation of early actinides using their irradiation with thermal neutron fluxes with the density of 10 15 ± 10 16 cm 72 s 71 . 171 In the Accelerator-Driven Transmutation of Waste (ATW) Programme (USA) and the ACTINEX Subprogramme of the SPIN Programme of the French National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, 172 the possibility of the simultaneous burning of minor actinides and 99 Tc as well as of some other nuclides was considered. 173,174 The transmutation of 99 Tc not only makes it possible to convert it into the safe form but also serves as a source of the valuable metal of the platinum group, viz., stable ruthenium, which is used in the electronics and electrotechnical industry (the price of ruthenium is *$10 per gramme).…”