PLUTONIUM-238 PRODUCTION TARGET DESIGN STUDIES

A campaign is underway to provide a new supply of plutonium-238 using existing nuclear research reactors at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and existing chemical recovery facilities at ORNL. Validation and testing activities for new irradiation target designs have been conducted in three phases over a 2 year period to provide data to support an increased throughput toward a production phase. Design, qualification, fabrication, and irradiation of fully-loaded targets have been completed. Data from post-irradiation examination (PIE) has been extracted to support safety analysis and irradiation of future target designs.