Heated uranium tetrafluoride target system to release non-rare gas fission products for the TRISTAN isotope separator

The development of a heated uranium tetrafluoride target system for the TRISTAN isotope separator to release non-rare gas fission products is presented. Off-line experiments indicated that fluorides of As, Se, Br, Kr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Sb, Te, I and Xe could be volatilized, but except for Br, Kr, I and Xe, none of these elements was observed after mass separation in the on-line experiments. The results of the on-line experiments indicated a very low level of hydride contamination at ambient temperature and consequently, uranium tetrafluoride replaced uranyl stearate as the primary gaseous fission product target. Possible reasons for the failure of the heated target system to yield non-rare gas activities are discussed and suggestions for designing a new heated target system are presented