Stainless steel recycle FY94 progress report
The Materials Technology Section (MTS) of the Savannah River Technology Center (SRTC) was asked to demonstrate the practicality of recycling previously contaminated stainless steel components such as reactor heat exchanger heads, process water piping and slug buckets into 208 liters (55 gallon) drums and 2.8 cubic meter (100 ft{sup 3}) storage boxes. Radioactively contaminated stainless steel scrap will be sent to several industrial partners where it will be melted, decontaminated/cast into ingots, and rolled into plate and sheet and fabricated into the drums and boxes. As part of this recycle initiative, MTS was requested to demonstrate that radioactively contaminated Type 304L stainless steel could be remelted and cast to meet the applicable ASTM specification for fabrication of drums and boxes. In addition, MTS was requested to develop the technical basis of melt decontamination and establish practicality of using this approach for value added products. The findings presented in this investigation lead to the following conclusions: recycle of 18 wt% Cr-8 wt% Ni alloy can be achieved by melting Type 304 stainless steel in a air vacuum induction furnace; limited melt decontamination of the contaminated stainless steel was achieved, surface contamination was removed by standard decontamination techniques; carbon uptake in the as-cast ingots resulted from the graphite susceptor used in this experiment and is unavoidable with this furnace configuration. A new furnace optimized for melting stainless steel has been installed and is currently being tested for use in this program.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 10104284
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-TR-94-0527; ON: DE95003905; TRN: AHC29502%%32
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 28 Oct 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Slag remelt purification of irradiated vanadium alloys
Optimization of Thermochemical, Kinetic, and Electrochemical Factors Governing Partitioning of Radionuclides during Melt Decontamination of Radioactively Contaminated Stainless Steel
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
42 ENGINEERING
STAINLESS STEEL-304L
DECONTAMINATION
MELTING
CASTING
CONTAINERS
FABRICATION
PROGRESS REPORT
SURFACE CLEANING
CARBON ADDITIONS
SCRAP METALS
R REACTOR
PIPES
COBALT 60
ANTIMONY 125
TRITIUM
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
360601
052001
420204
PREPARATION AND MANUFACTURE
WASTE PROCESSING
SHIPPING CONTAINERS