 In the spring of 2008, the ORNL started production of californium for a commercial order by an oil company; Hamilton learned that in the summer, making a deal on subsequent extraction of berkelium. In September 2008, Oganessian, Hamilton, and Roberto assembled to coordinate planning on the experiment. In November 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy, the state department oversight over the reactor in Oak Ridge, allowed the scientific use of the extracted berkelium. The production lasted 250 days and ended in late December 2008, resulting in 22 milligrams of berkelium, enough to perform the experiment. In January 2009, the berkelium was removed from the reactor; it was subsequently cooled for 90 days and then chemically purified for another 90 days. Its half-life is only 330 days: after that time, half the berkelium produced would have decayed away. Because of this, the berkelium target had to be quickly transported to Russia; for the experiment to be viable, it had to begin within six months of its departure from the United States. The target was packed into five lead containers to be sent on a commercial flight from New York to Moscow.
