Alloying of Pu-Al with Stainless Steel for Material Disposition

Journal Article · 11 February 2022 · Nuclear Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.2004871 · OSTI ID:1863798

Pierce, R. A.  ^[1]; Olson, L. C. ^[1]; Ajo, H. M. ^[1]

---

1. Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has evaluated several options for the disposition of stainless-steel clad plutonium metal alloy. One of the technologies under consideration is alloying of the material with stainless steel (SS). The resulting SS-Pu alloy would be a non-proliferable waste form consisting of a secondary Pu composition region microencapsulated in the refractory stainless steel. Two 8-kg ingots were made at SS-1.8Zr-0.4Pu alloys (wt %); 8 kg was determined in a previous study to be the maximum mass of SS ingot at the maximum target Pu loading of 350-g that would result in a SS-4.4Pu alloy (wt %). Two smaller 500-g ingots were also produced at SS-1.6Zr-1.4Pu and SS-1.4Pu (wt %). The 500-g ingots evaluated alloying at a higher Pu concentration than in the 8 kg ingots, and they evaluated the necessity of adding Zr metal to incorporate the Pu and control Pu oxidation. Zr addition was found to be unnecessary to incorporate the Pu and control Pu oxidation. Drill turnings were collected from the large and small ingots and metallographic samples were directly cut from the small ingots. Both were analyzed to validate the structure and composition region formation. Chemical analyses of turnings proved that the Pu was dispersed within the SS ingots.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Savannah River National Lab (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
• Grant/Contract Number: 89303321CEM000080
• OSTI ID: 1863798
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI-2021-00101
• Journal Information: Nuclear Technology, Journal Name: Nuclear Technology Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 208; ISSN 0029-5450
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis - formerly American Nuclear Society (ANS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English