A Novel Approach for Preferential Recovery of ⁹⁰Sr from Irradiated ThO₂

Abstract

Thorium is likely to play a pivotal role in the sustained use of nuclear energy as uranium reserves dwindle in the next few decades. This outlook is a result of thorium’s abundant supply (3–4 times that of uranium), favorable neutronic and physico-chemical properties (as a fuel material), intrinsic proliferation resistance (owing to the presence of ²³²U along with ²³⁵U), the lower content of minor actinides in the spent fuel, and better long-term behavior of its waste in geological repositories. Its high η factor makes ²³³U the best fissile isotope, of all existing fissile isotopes, for thermal neutrons, but it produces significant amounts of ⁹⁰Sr. If this ⁹⁰Sr can be recovered, it can be used as a valuable radionuclide for ⁹⁰Y—a potential radionuclide for therapeutic applications, such as treating lung cancer, melanoma, and renal cell carcinoma.

In lieu of a written contribution by the authors, the actual poster presented at ThEC13 is included.