Remote handling in the Plutonium Immobilization Project: Puck packaging
The Savannah River Site (SRS) will immobilize excess plutonium in the proposed Plutonium Immobilization Project (PIP). The PIP scope includes unloading transportation containers, preparing the feed streams, converting the metal feed to an oxide, adding the ceramic precursors, pressing the pucks, inspecting pucks, and sintering pucks. The PIP scope also includes loading the pucks into metal cans, sealing the cans, inspecting the cans, loading the cans into magazines, loading magazines into Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF) canisters, and transporting the canisters to the DWPF. The DWPF will fill the canister with a mixture of high-level waste and glass for permanent storage. Because of the radiation, remote equipment will perform PIP operations in a contained environment. The PIP puck packaging includes loading pucks into metal cans, sealing the cans, and inspecting the cans. A magnetically coupled elevator will lower a tray of pucks onto a magnetically coupled transport cart. This cart will carry the tray through an air lock into the can-loading glove box. Inside the glove box, a magnetically coupled tray lifter will raise the tray off the cart. A three-axis Cartesian robot will use a vacuum cup on a long pipe to lift the 67.3-mm (2.65-in.)-diam, 25.4-mm (1.0-in.)-tall pucks from the transfer tray and place 20 pucks in a 76.2-mm (3.0-in.)-diam stainless steel can. The Cartesian robot will place a custom hood on the open metal can, and this hood will remove the air from the can, insert helium, and place a hollow plug in the can. The SRS-developed bagless transfer system will weld the plug to the can wall and cut the can in the weld area. The can stub and the upper plug half above the cut line will remain in the sphincter seal to maintain the glove-box seal. The puck can and the lower plug half below the cut line is lowered into the bagless transfer enclosure. A floor-mounted robot in this enclosure will swipe the can exterior for contamination and place the can in a leak-detection chamber. If the can passes the swipe and leak-detection tests, the robot will place it on a transfer cart and send it to a nondestructive assay station. If the can fails either test, it will be sent back to the can-loading glove box and opened, and the pucks will be reloaded into another can. The PIP is in the conceptual design stage, and the facility will begin operation in 2007.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20005838
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 81; Conference: American Nuclear Society 1999 Winter Meeting, Long Beach, CA (US), 11/14/1999--11/18/1999; Other Information: PBD: 1999; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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