Production of fission ¹³¹I

Summary

A method of iodine separation from other radionuclides generated by ²³⁵U fission has been developed in order to explore the possibilities to obtain ¹³¹I as by-product of the ⁹⁹Mo routine production in the Ezeiza Atomic Centre. The experiments were designed to remove this element to gas phase, and the recoveries were investigated both with and without carrier addition. High volatilization percentages were achieved in the presence of iodine carrier. Some other alternatives to increase the iodine displacement to the gaseous phase, namely vacuum distillation, addition of hydrogen peroxide and use of a carrier gas, were also studied. The method developed, which employs a carrier gas stream, without carrier addition, allows the recovery of about 97% of the ¹³¹I, with high specific activity, in a simple and clean way.