Cladding hull decontamination and densification process. Part 2. Densification by inductoslag melting

Technical Report · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5399415· OSTI ID:5399415

Nelson, R G; Montgomery, D R

The Inductoslag melting process was developed to densify Zircaloy-4 cladding hulls. It is a cold crucible process that uses induction heating, a segmented water-cooled copper crucible, and a calcium fluoride flux. Metal and flux are fed into the furnace through the crucible, located at the top of the furnace, and the finished ingot is withdrawn from the bottom of the furnace. Melting rates of 40 to 50 kg/h are achieved, using 100 to 110 kW at an average energy use of 2.5 kWh/kg. The quality of ingots produced from factory supplied cladding tubing is sufficient to satisfy nuclear grade standards. An ingot of Zircaloy-4, made from melted cladding tubing that had been autoclaved to near reactor exposure and then descaled by the hydrogen fluoride decontamination process prior to Inductoslag melting, did not meet nuclear grade standards because the hydrogen, nitrogen, and hardness levels were too high. Melting development work is described that could possibly be used to test the capability of the Inductoslag process to satisfactorily melt a variety and mix of materials from LWR reprocessing, decontamination, and storage options. Results of experiments are also presented that could be used to improve remote operation of the melting process.

• Research Organization: Battelle Pacific Northwest Labs., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: EY-76-C-06-1830
• OSTI ID: 5399415
• Report Number(s): PNL-3166(Pt.2)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050800* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Spent Fuels Reprocessing
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ALLOYS
CLEANING
DECONTAMINATION
FUEL CANS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL ELEMENTS
HEAD END PROCESSES
MANAGEMENT
MELTING
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PROCESSING
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTORS
SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
TIN ALLOYS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WATER COOLED REACTORS
ZIRCALOY
ZIRCALOY 4
ZIRCONIUM ALLOYS
ZIRCONIUM BASE ALLOYS