[Untitled Radioisotopes, 1960s?]

research arching our way of life they heal the sick make our labors more efficient improve the quality and perform Untold chores in agricultural medical and Industrial Research [Music] what are radio isotopes they are merely unstable forms of elements giving off unseen particles or Rays from the nuclei during the process of changing to stable form alpha particles which are not very penetrating can be stopped by a sheet of paper beta particles move a few feet in the air and can be halted by a relatively thin piece of wood gamma rays the most penetrating of the three travel long distances in air and can be stopped only by a large amount of heavy material shielding such as lead or thick concrete walls radioisotopes emit one or more of these types of rays the rate of emission related to a characteristic of radioisotopes the halflife varies widely the half-life of normally available radioisotopes ranges from hours to thousands of years potassium 42 for instance has a half life of 12 hours while carbon 14 has a half life of more than 5,000 years this means that 1 half the potassium 42 has decayed after 12 hours but it would take 5,000 years for 1 half of a carbon 14 sample to Decay three methods of producing radioisotopes are by simple Neutron capture with gamma ray emission by visioning of uranium [Music] atoms and by transmutation which means the capture of a neutron and the ejection of a proton in simple Neutron capture a stable isotope such as cobalt 59 is bombarded by a neutron in absorbing the neutron the isotope becomes radioactive Cobalt 60 and gives off a gamma ray during fision of u235 for instance heavy uranium atoms split into both stable and Radioactive Isotopes they may break down in a variety of ways to give eventually radioisotopes with long enough half lives so that they can be separated strum 90 and serium 144 are two examples finally in transmutation fast neutrons enter the nuclei of atoms and cause the ejection of protons this changes the identity of the element for example sulfur 32 becomes phosphorus 32 Oakridge National Laboratory pioneered the production of radioisotopes in 1946 with the processing of iodin 131 and carbon 14 the laboratory the largest producer of radioisotopes in the world now offers more than 300 radioactive and stable isotope products at Oak Ridge radioisotopes are produced by radiating elements in reactors and by the extraction of fision products from highly radioactive wastes obtained during the processing of spent reactor fuels the most widely used method is through irradiation in [Music] reactors elements are prepared as Target materials in small containers of various sizes the container after being cleaned is loaded with the element to be [Music] irradiated the cap is crimped and the container placed in a graphite Stringer such as this model for insertion into the [Music] reactor if the material is to be inserted into a water cooled reactor the elements are first sealed in a quartz ampule and the container welded [Music] such Target materials become Radioactive by Neutron capture they may also become Radioactive by transmutation as in the case of phosphorus 32 production in producing phosphorus 32 an aluminum container lined with Platinum to prevent corrosion of the metal and contamination of the target material is filled with sulfur 3 2 the unit is then loaded into a fuel element similar to this for irradiation in the low intensity test reactor after 3 weeks of neutron bombardment the target material is ready for separation of phosphorus 32 the mixture of phosphorus 32 and sulfur is then moved to a hot cell for processing by distillation of the sulfur thick concrete walls and a leaded window protect protect the operator from radiation during these operations iodin 131 like several other short lifee Isotopes is produced in the visioning of uranium fuel slugs are loaded into the graphite reactor and bombarded by neutrons to create a chain [Music] reaction about 3 months later the fuel slugs are removed and hauled in a protective carrier to the iodin processing area [Music] behind heavily shielded walls the slugs are dissolved in acid and the iodin distilled from the uranium solution in a series of operations after radioisotopes are processed they are transferred to the packaging area for analysis and storage or shipping radioisotopes in liquid form are stored behind a 20-in concrete barricade in preparing a shipment the operator Maneuvers the highly radioactive material while viewing the operation through mirrors another Safeguard against [Music] radiation the storage bottle is moved to the transfer area where a pipette withdraws the correct amount of isotope and transfers it to a shipping bottle tightly capped the bottle is then placed in a protective container [Music] [Applause] the shipping package is checked for possible radiation and contamination and the package is prepared for delivery a variety of containers is used since the activity of source determines the size of the protective carrier since short life radioisotopes often must be sent considerable distances a close check on Transportation schedules is maintained to ensure prompt delivery important non-radioactive products offered by the laboratory are stable isotopes stable isotopes are enriched by accelerating electrically charged ions in a calutron when the ion source is placed between the poles of an electromagnet the fast moving ions are deflected to a greater or lesser degree depending on their masses and then collected in receiving Pockets this method provides usable quantities of the less abundant Isotopes and higher purities of all Isotopes one of the major uses for stable isotopes is the production of high specific activity radioisotopes the most recent significant development in the isotope field is the large scale separation of long life fion products such products are produced in kilo cury quantities in Oakridge National laboratory's Vision products pilot plant the feed material is nuclear waste obtained during the processing of spent reactor fuels this unique pilot plant known as f3p is designed to process nuclear waste solutions by separating purifying and packaging the fision products individually the plant was built to satisfy a growing demand for long life radioisotopes and to develop large scale fishion product separation processes the facility is equipped to handle with minor changes most types of waste the plant's nine cells in the North Bank contain equipment for chemical processing Six South Bank cells hold equipment for final purification and Fabrication of radioactive sources the chemical processing cycle begins with a feeding of waste material into the evaporator where the volume is reduced considerably from here the concentrated feed flows to the first of four identical cells each containing a precipitator centrifuge centrifugate collection tank and a fraction tank after the concentrated feed has entered the precipitator gaseous ammonia is added while the solution is being thoroughly agitated the precipitated slurry then flows to the centrifuge where the liquid phase is separated from the solids which adhere to the wall the affluent from the centrifuge flows to a collection tank nitric acid is then added to dissolve the cake material this solution containing ruthenium 106 is stored in the cell's fraction tank for later processing this precipitation and centrifugation process is alternately repeated in three similar cells the effluent from the initial collection tank then flows to the next cell where serium 144 and promethium 147 are [Music] removed when the procedure is is repeated once more strum 90 is obtained in the fraction technum 99 is separated during the fourth precipitation and centrifugation process F fluent from the centrifuge in this processing step is sent to batch crystallizers for separation of cium 137 here ammonium Alum is added to the solution the solution is heated to 90° Centigrade then cooled and agitated causing the formation of crystals containing cesium [Music] 137 after the crystals have settled the remaining solution is filtered and transferred to a second crystallizer where the procedure is repeated this removes most of the cium remaining after the first crystallization step the initial Crystal bed is dissolved in hot water and the solution directed to a similar unit where cium Alum is separated from ammonium Alum following this separation the cesium Alum is transferred to a solids processing cell for final purification here through a precipitation process cium Alum is converted to cium Chloride the cium chloride is then dried and the powder pressed into pellets [Music] cium pellets are packaged in double stainless steel capsules for safety purposes and and the containers welded with the packaging completed the cesium source is inserted into a shielded carrier for shipment to the [Music] user for the separation of serum 144 the serium promethium fraction is transferred to batch mixer settlers here an organic reagent is added and the serium is extracted into the organic phase the aquous phase containing the promethium is separated from the organic by draining to the receiver tank this promethium solution is further purified by a second batch extraction [Music] after returning to the receiver tank the promethium passes to a precipitator where it is precipitated as promethium oxalate this slurry flows to a filter [Music] tank after being filtered the oxalate is dissolved by adding nitric acid the solution is then transferred to resin columns located at another building for separation of promethium from other Rare Earth elements form during [Music] fision the resin beds absorb the rare Earths from the solution the addition of citric acid to the resin column separates the rare Earths into bands which are collected separately this separation is necessary to obtain highly purified promethium at the f3p plant the serium still in the organic phase is removed by the addition of nitric acid as the phases separate the serium is drawn into the receiver tank and then transferred to another cell for final Source fabrication the other fision products ruthenium 106 strum 90 and technum 99 are put through similar final purification steps before their shipment to Consumers the successful demonstration of fision product Separation on a relatively large scale can lead to construction of production type facilities for separation of larger quantities there are indications that production quantities of vision products will be required for many [Music] uses included are the pasteurization and possible sterilization of foods and drugs initiators for unusual chemical reactions and utilization as special power sources the application of radio isotopes is well on its way to becoming the foremost peaceful use of our nuclear technology ology used as tracers and engaging radioisotopes already have created significant effects on industrial economy radioisotope process control techniques coupled with electronic data tabulation and automatic control devices are expected to help speed the age of automation as a source of high level radiation radioisotopes will increase the distribution of foods and Industrial Products thereby helping to reduce want and to increase the world's standard of living new Industries will spring up to service and supply devices using radioisotopes and to promote many new applications the United States through educational and technical assistance offered under its Atoms for Peace program helps materially to realize worldwide benefits from the atom world [Music]