Platinum Metals from Nuclear Fission

Abstract

Metals of the platinum group are being produced in appreciable and growing quantities as by-products of nuclear fission in atomic reactors. It has been suggested that rhodium, palladium and ruthenium might possibly be separated in the reprocessing of spent fuel and be used in industry but from calculations recently made it is now shown that their levels of radioactivity would be unacceptably high and their use would entail a risk of contamination of world stocks of all the platinum metals. The growth of mining operations is expected to provide ample supplies of all the platinum group metals and there is no prospect of exhausting mineral resources in the foreseeable future.