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Np neptunium
Atomic 93 ── actinide ── Tier 2
Commercial
Wikipedia↗

Neptunium has no ordinary bulk commodity market in the atlas sense. The commercial reality in 2025 is a tightly controlled DOE isotope catalog centered on Np-237, sold as oxide powder in gram quantities, plus the first market introduction of Np-236 in microgram quantities. What customers buy is isotope-specific nuclear material, not neptunium metal for mainstream alloying or chemical demand.

Np-237 matters because it is the front end of DOE's domestic Pu-238 production chain. DOE's restart plan and later production updates describe neptunium oxide mixed into target pellets, irradiated in HFIR and ATR, and chemically processed into Pu-238 for NASA radioisotope power systems. In parallel, DOE brought Np-236 to market in 2025 after a decade of R&D, positioning it as a specialty isotope for nuclear forensics, safeguards, nonproliferation, environmental work, and research.

No production data
No reserves or end-use data
No price history

Isotope Markets (2)

Np-236

accelerator_generated
Half-life: 1,530,000 years
Precursor: DOE Isotope Program produced Np-236 by irradiating a depleted uranium target with protons at Los Alamos National Laboratory, chemically processing the target at Idaho National Laboratory, and providing further enrichment capability at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Delivery form: NIDC lists Np-236 in microgram quantities and the 2025 launch notice offers quotes for 8%-enriched material, with higher enrichments available on request.
Reporting year: 2025

Np-237

reactor_generated
Half-life: 2,144,000 years
Precursor: DOE's current downstream industrial use for Np-237 is as neptunium oxide feed that is fabricated into irradiation targets for plutonium-238 production. DOE's 2010 restart plan states that Np-237 stored at Idaho National Laboratory would be fabricated into targets, irradiated in HFIR and ATR, and chemically processed to recover Pu-238 for radioisotope power systems.
Delivery form: NIDC lists Np-237 as oxide powder with grams as the unit of sale, stock availability, a glass vial as the primary container, and DOE/NRC Form 741 transfer documentation because it is classed as nuclear material.
Reporting year: 2025

Sources (6)

primary Idaho National Lab Starts Second Plutonium Target Campaign for NASA Space Missions
US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy • 2021 • retrieved 2026-04-13
primary Unleashing America's Isotopes: Introducing Neptunium-236
US Department of Energy / National Isotope Development Center • 2025 • retrieved 2026-04-13
referenced by:end_uses 1events 1feedstocks 1
primary Start-up Plan for Plutonium-238 Production for Radioisotope Power Systems
US Department of Energy • 2010 • retrieved 2026-04-13
referenced by:events 1
primary Neptunium
US Department of Energy / National Isotope Development Center • 2025 • retrieved 2026-04-13
primary Neptunium-237 Product Information
US Department of Energy / National Isotope Development Center • 2024 • retrieved 2026-04-13
referenced by:feedstocks 1
primary ENSDF decay dataset for 236Np EC decay (155E+3 y)
National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory • 2022 • retrieved 2026-04-13