Areva Nc

Patrick Bourdet

Jean-Paul Moulin

Gilbert Andreoletti

Michel Belieres

Anne Montaletang

Pascal Nardoux

Jean Paul Moulin

The invention relates to a process for producingTh from a natural thorium salt, which comprises in succession: a) the separation of the radium from the other radioelements present in this salt, by at least one coprecipitation of the radium by barium sulphate, this coprecipitation comprising: i) the addition of sulphuric acid and a barium salt to an aqueous solution of said natural thorium salt in order to form a barium-radium sulphate coprecipitate and ii) the separation of the coprecipitate from the medium in which it has formed; b) the extraction of the thorium 228 coming from the decay of radium 228 from the coprecipitate thus separated; and, optionally c) the purification and concentration of theTh thus extracted. Applications: manufacture of radiopharmaceutical products useful in nuclear medicine, in particular in radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of cancers and AIDS.

Production of thorium 228 starting from a natural thorium salt

A chemical element to be very efficiently separated from uranium starting from an acid aqueous phase, in an extraction cycle for the uranium, when this chemical element is present in said phase at a concentration less than that of the uranium, or even as a trace element, and when it is moreover less extractable by the extractant used in this extraction cycle than is the uranium. The chemical element can notably be neptunium(IV) or thorium 228.

Process for separating a chemical element from uranium (VI) starting from a nitric aqueous phase, in an extraction cycle for the uranium

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Bethesda, MD, United States of America

Patrick Bourdet