SFE/FT-IR MOISTURE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR PLUTONIUM DIOXIDE MATERIAL

摘要

A substantial quantity of nuclear material is currently being stored at DOE sites throughout the United States. Some of this material is considered excess to the needs of the national defense. In order to facilitate the removal of this material from the sites and to place it in a form that is stable the DOE has developed a stabilization, packaging and storage standard, DOE-STD-3013-96. The long-term storage of plutonium as oxide powder requires that residual moisture be reduced to very low levels. One of the major concerns in the packaging and storage process is the possible generation of high internal, possibly flammable, gas pressures which may result in failure of the storage container and airborne release of oxide particles. There are four primary mechanisms which can result in pressurizations of oxide storage containers: (1) radioactive (alpha) decay; (2) chemical reaction of materials within the storage container; (3) radiolytic decomposition of components within the storage container; and (4) thermal desorption of species from the stored nuclear material.