Plutonyl fluoride

Neptunyl fluoride (Np02F2) is a pink solid prepared by the reaction of the hydrated trioxide with gaseous HF and by direct fluorination of Np205 at 350°C or NpC>3 H20 at 225°C (208, 220). Plutonyl fluoride (Pu02F2) is prepared by the hydrolysis of PuF6 in aqueous solution (272) or in moist air (273) and by the reaction of Pu02Cl2 with anhydrous HF (274). It is a white solid, isomorphous with U02F2 and forms the dihydrate readily. 

Carbonate Complexes. Of the many ligands which are known to complex plutonium, only those of primary environmental concern, that is, carbonate, sulfate, fluoride, chloride, nitrate, phosphate, citrate, tributyl phosphate (TBP), and ethylenediaminetet-raacetic acid (EDTA), will be discussed. Of these, none is more important in natural systems than carbonate, but data on its reactions with plutonium are meager, primarily because of competitive hydrolysis at the low acidities that must be used. No stability constants have been published on the carbonate complexes of plutonium(III) and plutonyl(V), and the data for the plutoni-um(IV) species are not credible. Results from studies on the solubility of plutonium(IV) oxalate in K2CO3 solutions of various concentrations have been interpreted to indicate the existence of complexes as high as Pu(C03) , a species that is most unlikely from both electrostatic and steric considerations. From the influence of K2CO3 concentration on the solubility of PuCOH) at an ionic strength of 10 M, the stability constant of the complex Pu(C03) was calculated (10) to be 9.1 X 10 at 20°. This value... 

U233 and 9433 may be dispersed in water as soluble 6 uranyl and plutonyl (PuOa ) salts, such as uranyl and plutonyl nitrate, sulphate or fluoride, or as an alkali metal uranyl or plutonyl carbonate. Such a solution with the proper isotope concentration in water of either type and in a container of the proper size will sustain a 10 chain reaction with a low neutron loss except for exterior neutron leakage, which will be very high. 

---