ABSTRACT
TE-LIN YAU Teledyne Wah Chang Albany, Albany, Oregon
INTRODUCTION
Zirconium, atomic number 40 and atomic weight 91.22, was identified as an element by Klaproth in 1789. In 1824, Berzelius made the first impure metal by reducing potassium fluorozirconate with potassium. In 1925, Van Arkel and de Boer prepared the first high-purity zirconium by using an iodide decomposition process. The commercial Kroll process was developed in 1946 at the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Albany, Oregon.
