Methods of Preventing the Spread of Zinc Contamination During Vacuum Processing

Journal Article · Tue Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2013 · Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-013-9774-2· OSTI ID:1116989

Korinko, Paul S. ^[1]; Duncan, Andrew J. ^[1]; Stoner, Kevin J. ^[2]

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

Radioactive zinc, ⁶⁵Zn, was detected after a thermal vacuum process that extracted a desired product from articles out of a commercial light water reactor. While the facility is designed to handle radioactive materials, the location of the ⁶⁵Zn was in an area that is not designed for gamma emitting contaminants. A series of experiments were conducted to entrain the contaminant in an easily replaceable trap within the process piping. The experiments were conducted with increasing levels of complexity. Initially a simple apparatus was developed to determine the effect of substrate temperature on the vapor capture, this was followed by experiments to determine the effect of filter pore size on pumping and trapping, finally the interactive effects of both pore size and temperature were evaluated. The testing was conducted on a system that used a roughing vacuum pump using model and prototypic materials. It was determined that heating the substrate to nominally 200°C resulted in effective trapping on the model as well as prototypic material.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-08SR22470
• OSTI ID: 1116989
• Report Number(s): SRNL-STI-2013-00667
• Journal Information: Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention, Vol. 14, Issue 1; ISSN 1547-7029
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES