skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DOE STANDARD 3013 EQUIVALENCY SUPPORTING REDUCED TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF OXALATE-DERIVED PLUTONIUM OXIDE PRODUCED BY THE HB-LINE FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

Abstract

The HB-Line (HBL) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is designed to produce high-purity plutonium dioxide (PuO{sub 2}) which is suitable for future use in production of Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel. The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) requires PuO{sub 2} feed to be packaged per the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Standard 3013 (DOE-STD-3013) to comply with the facility's safety basis. The stabilization conditions imposed by DOE-STD-3013 for PuO{sub 2} (i.e., 950 C for 2 hours) preclude use of the HBL PuO{sub 2} in direct fuel fabrication and reduce the value of the HBL product as MFFF feedstock. Consequently, HBL initiated a technical evaluation to define acceptable operating conditions for production of high-purity PuO{sub 2} that fulfills the DOE-STD-3013 criteria for safe storage. The purpose of this document is to demonstrate that within the defined operating conditions, the HBL process will be equivalent for meeting the requirements of the DOE-STD-3013 stabilization process for plutonium-bearing materials from the DOE complex. The proposed 3013 equivalency reduces the prescribed stabilization temperature for high-purity PuO{sub 2} from oxalate precipitation processes from 950 C to 640 C and places a limit of 60% on the relative humidity (RH) at the lowest material temperature. Themore » equivalency is limited to material produced using the HBL established flow sheet, for example, nitric acid anion exchange and Pu(IV) direct strike oxalate precipitation with stabilization at a minimum temperature of 640 C for four hours (h). The product purity must meet the MFFF acceptance criteria of 23,600 {micro}g/g Pu (i.e., 2.1 wt %) total impurities and chloride content less than 250 {micro}g/g of Pu. All other stabilization and packaging criteria identified by DOE-STD-3013-2012 or earlier revisions of the standard apply. Based on the evaluation of test data discussed in this document, the expert judgment of the authors supports packaging the HBL product under a 3013 equivalency. Under the defined process conditions and associated material specifications, the high-purity PuO{sub 2} produced in HBL presents no unique safety concerns for packaging or storage in the 3013 required configuration. The PuO{sub 2} produced using the HBL flow sheet conditions will have a higher specific surface area (SSA) than PuO{sub 2} stabilized at 950 C and, consequently, under identical conditions will adsorb more water from the atmosphere. The greatest challenge to HBL operators will be controlling moisture content below 0.5 wt %. However, even at the 0.5 wt % moisture limit, the maximum acceptable pressure of a stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in the 3013 container is greater than the maximum possible pressure for the HBL PuO{sub 2} product.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1045619
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2012-00256
TRN: US201215%%199
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC09-08SR22470
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
08 HYDROGEN; ANIONS; CHLORIDES; CONTAINERS; FABRICATION; FLOWSHEETS; HUMIDITY; HYDROGEN; IMPURITIES; MIXTURES; MOISTURE; NITRIC ACID; OXALATES; OXIDES; OXYGEN; PACKAGING; PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE; PLUTONIUM OXIDES; SAFETY; SPECIFIC SURFACE AREA; STABILIZATION; STORAGE

Citation Formats

Duffey, J, Livingston, R, Berg, J, and Veirs, D. TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DOE STANDARD 3013 EQUIVALENCY SUPPORTING REDUCED TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF OXALATE-DERIVED PLUTONIUM OXIDE PRODUCED BY THE HB-LINE FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.2172/1045619.
Duffey, J, Livingston, R, Berg, J, & Veirs, D. TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DOE STANDARD 3013 EQUIVALENCY SUPPORTING REDUCED TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF OXALATE-DERIVED PLUTONIUM OXIDE PRODUCED BY THE HB-LINE FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1045619
Duffey, J, Livingston, R, Berg, J, and Veirs, D. 2012. "TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DOE STANDARD 3013 EQUIVALENCY SUPPORTING REDUCED TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF OXALATE-DERIVED PLUTONIUM OXIDE PRODUCED BY THE HB-LINE FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1045619. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1045619.
@article{osti_1045619,
title = {TECHNICAL BASIS FOR DOE STANDARD 3013 EQUIVALENCY SUPPORTING REDUCED TEMPERATURE STABILIZATION OF OXALATE-DERIVED PLUTONIUM OXIDE PRODUCED BY THE HB-LINE FACILITY AT SAVANNAH RIVER SITE},
author = {Duffey, J and Livingston, R and Berg, J and Veirs, D},
abstractNote = {The HB-Line (HBL) facility at the Savannah River Site (SRS) is designed to produce high-purity plutonium dioxide (PuO{sub 2}) which is suitable for future use in production of Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel. The MOX Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF) requires PuO{sub 2} feed to be packaged per the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Standard 3013 (DOE-STD-3013) to comply with the facility's safety basis. The stabilization conditions imposed by DOE-STD-3013 for PuO{sub 2} (i.e., 950 C for 2 hours) preclude use of the HBL PuO{sub 2} in direct fuel fabrication and reduce the value of the HBL product as MFFF feedstock. Consequently, HBL initiated a technical evaluation to define acceptable operating conditions for production of high-purity PuO{sub 2} that fulfills the DOE-STD-3013 criteria for safe storage. The purpose of this document is to demonstrate that within the defined operating conditions, the HBL process will be equivalent for meeting the requirements of the DOE-STD-3013 stabilization process for plutonium-bearing materials from the DOE complex. The proposed 3013 equivalency reduces the prescribed stabilization temperature for high-purity PuO{sub 2} from oxalate precipitation processes from 950 C to 640 C and places a limit of 60% on the relative humidity (RH) at the lowest material temperature. The equivalency is limited to material produced using the HBL established flow sheet, for example, nitric acid anion exchange and Pu(IV) direct strike oxalate precipitation with stabilization at a minimum temperature of 640 C for four hours (h). The product purity must meet the MFFF acceptance criteria of 23,600 {micro}g/g Pu (i.e., 2.1 wt %) total impurities and chloride content less than 250 {micro}g/g of Pu. All other stabilization and packaging criteria identified by DOE-STD-3013-2012 or earlier revisions of the standard apply. Based on the evaluation of test data discussed in this document, the expert judgment of the authors supports packaging the HBL product under a 3013 equivalency. Under the defined process conditions and associated material specifications, the high-purity PuO{sub 2} produced in HBL presents no unique safety concerns for packaging or storage in the 3013 required configuration. The PuO{sub 2} produced using the HBL flow sheet conditions will have a higher specific surface area (SSA) than PuO{sub 2} stabilized at 950 C and, consequently, under identical conditions will adsorb more water from the atmosphere. The greatest challenge to HBL operators will be controlling moisture content below 0.5 wt %. However, even at the 0.5 wt % moisture limit, the maximum acceptable pressure of a stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen in the 3013 container is greater than the maximum possible pressure for the HBL PuO{sub 2} product.},
doi = {10.2172/1045619},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1045619}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Mon Jul 02 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}