Combination of DGA and LN Columns: A Versatile Option for Isotope Production and Purification at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The chromatographic resins DGA and LN have been used sequentially to separate curium, californium, plutonium, and various fission products (FPs) to obtain products with a pure radioisotope or a radioelement with high isotopic purity. This 2-step combination of resins has found applications in the Cf-252 and Pu-238 campaigns performed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Experiments have been carried out in glove boxes, shielded caves, and hot cells, demonstrating that these resins are adequate and maintain their performance in highly radiolytic environments. Using these resins has led to the recovery of curium highly enriched (>95%) in Cm-248, the clean separation of Cf-251 for the superheavy element research, and the recovery of Pm-147 from the FP stream obtained during the Pu-238 production campaign while demonstrating that the raffinate post DGA is essentially free of transuranic elements.