Patents by Inventor Christopher P. Dunckley

Christopher P. Dunckley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20250191800
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for the use of extraction chromatography resins to concentrate Ac from dilute solutions that may contain Th isotopes and/or other isotopes, such as Ra. As disclosed herein, at least some extraction chromatography resins strongly retain trivalent actinides between 4 and 6 M HNO3 that can be recovered in good yields with small volumes of dilute acids. These small volumes of acid eluents result in significant concentration of the solution of the trivalent/certain tetravalent ions, such that they can be further processed without requiring lengthy evaporation steps that are utilized in standard Ac concentration methods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 9, 2024
    Publication date: June 12, 2025
    Inventors: Christopher P. Dunckley, Laura Margaret Lilley
  • Patent number: 12002596
    Abstract: Targetry coupled separation refers to enhancing the production of a predetermined radiation product through the selection of a target (including selection of the target material and the material's physical structure) and separation chemistry in order to optimize the recovery of the predetermined radiation product. This disclosure describes systems and methods for creating (through irradiation) and removing one or more desired radioisotopes from a target and further describes systems and methods that allow the same target to undergo multiple irradiations and separation operations without damage to the target. In contrast with the prior art that requires complete dissolution or destruction of a target before recovery of any irradiation products, the repeated reuse of the same physical target allowed by targetry coupled separation represents a significant increase in efficiency and decrease in cost over the prior art.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2024
    Assignee: TerraPower, LLC
    Inventors: Ken Czerwinski, Joshua C. Walter, Christopher P. Dunckley
  • Publication number: 20220339292
    Abstract: In one aspect, the technology relates to a method of producing Ac, the method including preparing a phosphate-modified titania material to produce an ion-exchange material, contacting a solution including 229Th with the ion-exchange material to produce a Th-loaded titania material, eluting the Th-loaded titania material with a wash solution to produce an eluted solution containing eluted compounds including 225Ac, concentrating the eluted solution to generate eluted compounds including the 225Ac, and separating the 225Ac from the eluted compounds.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2022
    Publication date: October 27, 2022
    Inventors: Ken Czerwinski, Sayandev Chatterjee, Zuolei Liao, Pyoungchung Kim, Vladislav P. Vlasenko, Russell C. Ludwig, Christopher P. Dunckley
  • Publication number: 20220310281
    Abstract: Targetry coupled separation refers to enhancing the production of a predetermined radiation product through the selection of a target (including selection of the target material and the material's physical structure) and separation chemistry in order to optimize the recovery of the predetermined radiation product. This disclosure describes systems and methods for creating (through irradiation) and removing one or more desired radioisotopes from a target and further describes systems and methods that allow the same target to undergo multiple irradiations and separation operations without damage to the target. In contrast with the prior art that requires complete dissolution or destruction of a target before recovery of any irradiation products, the repeated reuse of the same physical target allowed by targetry coupled separation represents a significant increase in efficiency and decrease in cost over the prior art.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2021
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Applicant: TerraPower, LLC
    Inventors: Ken Czerwinski, Joshua C. Walter, Christopher P. Dunckley