A Novel Method for Molybdenum-99/Technetium-99m Recovery via Anodic Carbonate Dissolution of Irradiated Low-Enriched Uranium Metal Foil

A new method is presented here for digesting irradiated low-enriched uranium foil targets in alkaline carbonate media to recover 99Mo. This method consists of the electrolytic dissolution of uranium foil in a sodium bicarbonate solution, followed by the precipitation of carbonate, base-insoluble fission products, activation products, and actinides with calcium oxide; most of the molybdenum, technetium, and iodine remain in solution. An electrochemical dissolver and mixing vessel were designed, fabricated, and tested for the processing of a full-sized irradiated foil under ambient pressure and elevated temperature. Over 92% of the fission-induced 99Mo was recovered in a product solution that was compatible with an anion-exchange column for retaining molybdenum and iodine.