Recovery of noble metals from fission products

Spent nuclear fuels contain significant quantities of three of the platinum-group metals--ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium--plus a related element, technetium, which is nearly absent in nature. Applications for the ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium are well established, and since the supply of these and other noble metals is largely from foreign sources, they are considered strategic materials. Thus, there is considerable incentive to recover them from nuclear fuels. The technical feasibility of using fission product (FP) noble metals extensively in industry depends on resolution of three major problems: 1. They must be thoroughly decontaminated from all other radioactive materials in the waste stream. 2. They must be separated from one another in very high purity because of internal decay processes. 3. Applications selected must provide appropriate control of radioactivity or the radioisotopes must be removed by isotope-separation techniques or normal decay