Design-only conceptual design report for pit disassembly and conversion facility. Rev 0

Technical Report · Fri Dec 12 04:00:00 EST 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/585066· OSTI ID:585066

Zygmunt, S.; Christensen, L.; Richardson, C.

This design-only conceptual design report (DOCDR) was prepared to support a funding request by the Department of Energy (DOE)-Office of Fissile Material Disposition (OFMD) for engineering design of the Pit Disassembly and Conversion Facility (PDCF) Project No. 99-D-141. The PDCF will be used to disassemble the nation`s inventory of surplus nuclear weapons pits and convert the plutonium recovered from those pits into a form suitable for storage, international inspection, and final disposition. The PDCF is a complex consisting of a hardened building that will contain the plutonium processes in a safe and secure manner, and conventional buildings and structures that will house support personnel, systems, and equipment. The PDCF uses the Advanced Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES), a low waste, modular pyroprocessing system to convert pits to plutonium oxide. The PDCF project consists of engineering and design, and construction of the buildings and structures, and engineering and design, procurement, installation, testing and start-up of equipment to disassemble pits and convert plutonium in pits to oxide form. The facility is planned to operate for 10 years, averaging 3.5 metric tons (3.86 tons) of plutonium metal per year. On conclusion of operations, the PDCF will be decontaminated and decommissioned.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 585066
• Report Number(s): LA--13398-MS; ON: DE98004457
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
DESIGN
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR WEAPONS DISMANTLEMENT
PLUTONIUM