Containment and storage of uranium hexafluoride at US Department of Energy uranium enrichment plants
- Oak Ridge K-25 Site, TN (United States). UEO Enrichment Technical Operations Div.
- USDOE Oak Ridge Field Office, TN (United States)
- PAI Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- MJB Technical Associates (United States)
Isotopically depleted UF{sub 6} (uranium hexafluoride) accumulates at a rate five to ten times greater than the enriched product and is stored in steel vessels at the enrichment plant sites. There are approximately 55,000 large cylinders now in storage at Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Most of them contain a nominal 14 tons of depleted UF{sub 6}. Some of these cylinders have been in the unprotected outdoor storage environment for periods approaching 40 years. Storage experience, supplemented by limited corrosion data, suggests a service life of about 70 years under optimum conditions for the 48-in. diameter, 5/16-in.-wall pressure vessels (100 psi working pressure), using a conservative industry-established 1/4-in.-wall thickness as the service limit. In the past few years, however, factors other than atmospheric corrosion have become apparent that adversely affect the serviceability of small numbers of the storage containers and that indicate the need for a managed program to ensure maintenance ofcontainment integrity for all the cylinders in storage. The program includes periodic visual inspections of cylinders and storage yards with documentation for comparison with other inspections, a group of corrosion test programs to permit cylinder life forecasts, and identification of (and scheduling for remedial action) situations in which defects, due to handling damage or accelerated corrosion, can seriously shorten the storage life or compromise the containment integrity of individual cylinders. The program also includes rupture testing to assess the effects of certain classes of damage on overall cylinder strength, aswell as ongoing reviews of specifications, procedures, practices, and inspection results to effect improvements in handling safety, containment integrity, and storage life.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge K-25 Site, TN (United States). UEO Enrichment Technical Operations Div.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OT21400; AC05-76OU00001
- OSTI ID:
- 10174616
- Report Number(s):
- K/ETO-99; ON: DE92019948
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Jul 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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