Investigation of a uranium hexafluoride release incident on September 17, 1975 in the K-1423 Toll Enrichment Facility (U). Revision 1

Technical Report · Wed Apr 16 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5863166

An explosion occurred in a 30A 2-1/2 ton UF/sub 6/ cylinder at the K-1423 Toll Enrichment Facility on September 17, 1975, cracking the cylinder and resulting in the release of about 18 lb of UF/sub 6/. The damaged cylinder was one of 10 cylinders received by ORGDP from an enriching service customer on March 19, 1975. These cylinders were cleaned and inspected at ORGDP, returned to the cylinder manufacturer for inspection and hydrostatic testing, then reinspected at ORGDP, valves installed and leak tested, and evacuated prior to filling with enriched UF/sub 6/ at the Toll Enrichment Facility. A committee was appointed to determine the cause of the incident, thoroughly evaluate procedures and practices and recommend necessary changes to preclude recurrence of a similar incident in the future. This report presents the investigations carried out by the committee and their conclusions and recommendations based on findings.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OT21400
• OSTI ID: 5863166
• Report Number(s): K/P-6197-Rev.1; ON: DE86009328
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

054000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Health & Safety
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACCIDENTS
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CONTAINERS
EXPLOSIONS
FLUORIDES
FLUORINE COMPOUNDS
GAS CYLINDERS
GASEOUS DIFFUSION PLANTS
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INJURIES
ISOTOPE SEPARATION PLANTS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ORGDP
PERSONNEL
RECOMMENDATIONS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM FLUORIDES
URANIUM HEXAFLUORIDE
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS