142 Nuclear Forensic Analysis
the desired nuclear transformations. For example,
237
Np targets are reprocessed for
238
Pu, and
232
Th blankets around breeder reactors are reprocessed for
233
U. However,
b
y
f
ar,
t
he
m
ost
i
mportant
r
eprocessing
e
fforts,
c
ontemporary
a
nd
h
istoric,
h
ave
f
ocused
o
n
t
he
i
solation
o
f
239
Pu from depleted U blankets or spent reactor fuel. The
d
evelopment
o
f
r
adiochemical
r
eprocessing
p
rotocols
f
or
239
Pu in irradiated nuclear
t
argets
b
egan
i
n
1
944
w
ith
t
he
M
anhattan
P
roject,
a
nd
t
he
t
echnology
h
as
e
volved
e
ver
s
ince
[
14,68].
T
he
rst
d
eterminations
o
f
t
he
c
hemical
p
roperties
o
f
t
he
n
ew
e
le-
ment
P
u
w
ere
p
erformed
i
n
1
941.
T
he
f
act
t
hat
i
ndustrial
p
rocedures
w
ere
i
n
p
lace
f
or
s
eparating
k
ilogram
q
uantities
o
f
P
u
f
rom
t
ons ...