Fundamental properties of targets for transmutation of technetium-99 and iodine-129

Minato, Kazuo ; Shirasu, Yoshiro ; Nishihara, Kenji  

The concept of transmutations of Tc-99 and I-129 to stable nuclides is an attractive option to reduce the long-term risk of the storage of high-level waste from nuclear reactors. For the target for transmutation of Tc-99, the thermal expansions and heat capacities of Tc-Ru alloys were measured to build a database of the Tc metal target. For the target for transmutation of I-129, literature survey and experimental studies on characterization and fabrication of targets were made to select suitable chemical forms for the target. In the literature survey, chemical forms of iodide, iodate and iodide oxide were considered.