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Title: A shielded storage and processing facility for radioisotope thermoelectric generator heat source production

Conference ·
OSTI ID:7230538

This report discusses a shielded storage rack which has been installed as part of the Radioisotope Power Systems Facility (RPSF) at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site in Washington State. The RPSF is designed to replace an existing facility at DOE's Mound Site near Dayton, Ohio, where General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules are currently assembled and installed into Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG). The overall design goal of the RPSF is to increase annual production throughput, while at the same time reducing annual radiation exposure to personnel. The shield rack design successfully achieved this goal for the Module Reduction and Monitoring Facility (MRMF), which process and stores assembled GPHS modules, prior to their installation into RTGS. The shield rack design is simple and effective, with the result that background radiation levels within Hanford's MRMF room are calculated at just over three percent of those typically experienced during operation of the existing MRMF at Mound, despite the fact that Hanford's calculations assume five times the GPHS inventory of that assumed for Mound.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-87RL10930
OSTI ID:
7230538
Report Number(s):
WHC-SA-1594; CONF-930103-10; ON: DE92040417
Resource Relation:
Conference: 10. symposium on space nuclear power and propulsion, Albuquerque, NM (United States), 10-14 Jan 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English