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Abstract A process for the production of tens to hundreds of GBq amounts of zirconium-88 (88Zr) using proton beams on yttrium was developed. For this purpose, yttrium metal targets (≈20 g) were irradiated in a ~16 to 34 MeV proton beam at a beam current of 100–200 µA at the Los Alamos Isotope Production Facility (IPF). The 88Zr radionuclide was produced and separated from the yttrium targets using hydroxamate resin with an elution yield of 94(5)% (1σ). Liquid DCl solution in D2O was selected as a suitable 88Zr sample matrix due to the high neutron transmission of deuterium compared to hydrogen and an even distribution of 88Zr in the sample matrix. The separated 88Zr was dissolved in DCl and 8 µL of the obtained solution was transferred to a tungsten sample can with a 1.2 mm diameter hole using a syringe and automated filling station inside a hot cell. Neutron transmission of the obtained 88Zr sample was measured at the Device for Indirect Capture Experiments on Radionuclides (DICER).

A two-phase cerium yttrium alloy was developed to understand the effect of varying phase fraction on quasi-static and dynamic properties in comparison to unalloyed cerium. The goal of the current work is to discuss the processing pathway as related to the resulting microstructure and phase fraction and eventually to material properties. Test samples are characterized using a combination of metallography, X-ray diffraction, and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP AES) to identify the influence of the two process variables, heat treatment and starting composition, on microstructure and final phase composition. Through the study, the team developed a process to reproducibly fabricate a two-phase cerium-yttrium alloy with a composition of 5.75 and 6.5 wt percent yttrium heat treated to 450 °C to be mechanically and dynamically tested in future work.