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Title: Gas generation over plutonium oxides in the 94-1 shelf-life surveillance program.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:976287

The Department of Energy (DOE) is embarking upon a program to store large quantities of plutonium-bearing materials for up to fifty years. The Los Alamos National Laboratory Shelf Life Project was established to bound the behavior of plutonium-bearing material meeting the DOE 3013 Standard. The shelf life study monitors temperature, pressure and gas composition over oxide materials in a limited number of large-scale 3013 inner containers and in many small-scale containers. For the large-scale study, baseline plutonium oxides, oxides exposed to high-humidity atmospheres, and oxides containing chloride salt impurities are planned. The first large-scale container represents a baseline and contains dry plutonium oxide prepared according to the 3013 Standard. This container has been observed for pressure, temperature and gas compositional changes for less than a year. Results indicate that no detectable changes in pressure and gas composition are observed.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
976287
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-02-5102; TRN: US1006866
Resource Relation:
Conference: Submitted to: American Nuclear Society Fifth Topical Meeting for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Fissile Materials Management, Sept. 17-20, 2002, Charleston, SC
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English