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ture containing protactinium f l u o r i d e i s placed i n t h e annular chamber and a LiF-NaF-KF mixture i s placed i n t h e inner chamber.
An atmosphere of HF
i s used t o sparge t h e LiF-NaF-KF mixture and a reducing metal and (beryll i u m o r thorium) i s added t o t h e s a l t i n t h e o u t e r chamber.
The protac-
tinium f l u o r i d e i n t h e o u t e r chamber i s reduced, dissolved i n and t r a n s f e r r e d through t h e bismuth and i s oxidized by HF and dissolved i n t h e LiFNaF-KF mixture i n t h e i n n e r cylinder.
Additional study i s necessary t o
e s t a b l i s h (1) t h e rate a t which such a system can be made t o work, ( 2 ) t h e q u a n t i t y of reducing metals t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e recovery s a l t , and t h e c m p l e t e n e s s t o which t h e r e a c t i o n can be e a s i l y driven. which seems t o have s e v e r a l u s e f u l variations--does,
The system--
however, look promis-
ing.
It is also c l e a r t h a t , as i n t h e rare e a r t h reduction process, electrochemical reduction of t h e protactinium f l u o r i d e s should be successful.
I n t h i s case, it might seem e s p e c i a l l y promising i f (as now seems
l i k e l y ) t h e protactinium is being reduced i n t h e presence of metal t o a s t a b l e i n t e r m e t a l l i c compound.
Attempts
t o reduce protactinium e l e c t r o -
chemically w i t h a v a r i e t y o f m e t a l l i c e l e c t r o d e s t o a s c e r t a i n (1)t h e type and composition of t h e i n t e r m e t a l l i c compound, and ( 2 ) whether a simple recovery process with a s o l i d e l e c t r o d e can be achieved are scheduled f o r study.