COMPTEL constraints on nova-produced Na-22

After 6 years of the Compton Mission (CGRO) the COMPTEL telescope has achie ved an MeV gamma-ray line sensitivity of about 10(-5) photons/(cm(2)s). At this level of sensitivity quite high expectations can be placed on the dete ction of the predicted(22)Na gamma-ray line from nearby novae. Classical no vae provide an environment in which hydrogen-burning reactions proceed on C NO and heavier nuclei at high temperatures. For such conditions astrophysic ally significant fluxes of the Na-22 gamma-ray line at 1.275 MeV are expect ed. The present understanding is that the nova shell expelled by the thermo nuclear runaway should be transparent to 1.275 MeV line emission a few days after the nova explosion. We have used the COMPTEL database to improve previously published limits fo r the sodium production by neon novae in the Galaxy, and to constrain the r ecent theoretical predictions of nova yields.