Phelps and two of her co-workers worked for three months to purify the berkelium. They did it and only lost less than one milligram of berkelium. Phelps called the purification a tedious process that involved many steps. After they were done, they sent the very pure berkelium to another laboratory in Dubna, Russia, called the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). There, scientists fused the berkelium with calcium to create tennessine. They named the new element "tennessine" after Tennessee, the US state where Oak Ridge resides.