Characterization of Representative Materials in Support of Safe, Long Term Storage of Surplus Plutonium in DOE-STD-3013 Containers

Narlesky, Joshua E.¹  Stroud, Mary Ann¹  Smith, Paul Herrick¹  Wayne, David M.¹  Mason, Richard E.² 

[1]Los Alamos National Laboratory

[2]MET-1: ACTINIDE PROCESSING

关键词: Nuclear Fuel Cycle & Fuel Materials(11);    Radiation Chemistry;    Radiochemistry;    & Nuclear Chemistry(38);    ACTINIDES;    CHLORIDES;    CONTAINERS;    ELEMENTS;    IMPURITIES;    METRICS;    MIXED OXIDE FUELS;    MOISTURE;    MONITORING;    NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS;    NUCLEAR WEAPONS;    OXIDES;    PARTICLE SIZE;    PLUTONIUM;    STORAGE;    SURFACE AREA;    TRACE AMOUNTS;   

DOI  :  10.2172/1048356
RP-ID  :  LA-UR-12-23790
PID  :  OSTI ID: 1048356
Others  :  TRN: US1204254

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

The Surveillance and Monitoring Program is a joint Los Alamos National Laboratory/Savannah River Site effort funded by the Department of Energy-Environmental Management to provide the technical basis for the safe, long-term storage (up to 50 years) of over 6 metric tons of plutonium stored in over 5,000 DOE-STD-3013 containers at various facilities around the DOE complex. The majority of this material is plutonium that is surplus to the nuclear weapons program, and much of it is destined for conversion to mixed oxide fuel for use in US nuclear power plants. The form of the plutonium ranges from relatively pure metal and oxide to very impure oxide. The performance of the 3013 containers has been shown to depend on moisture content and on the levels, types and chemical forms of the impurities. The oxide materials that present the greatest challenge to the storage container are those that contain chloride salts. Other common impurities include oxides and other compounds of calcium, magnesium, iron, and nickel. Over the past 15 years the program has collected a large body of experimental data on 54 samples of plutonium, with 53 chosen to represent the broader population of materials in storage. This paper summarizes the characterization data, moisture analysis, particle size, surface area, density, wattage, actinide composition, trace element impurity analysis, and shelf life surveillance data and includes origin and process history information. Limited characterization data on fourteen nonrepresentative samples is also presented.