Investigation into the Feasibility of Alternative Plutonium Shipping Forms.

摘要

Plutonium used for fuel fabrication is currently shipped as PuO2 powder with a significant fraction in the respirable size range. If the high-strength container breached during a transportation accident, the powder could be subject to airborne dispersion. Available information indicated that an accident with fire and crush/impact forces could lead to failure of currently used surface-shipping containers. Criteria for an alternate plutonium shipping form, to mitigate the effects of such an accident, were applied to several possible techniques and forms. At this time, the most promising alternate appears to be PuO2 pressed into unsintered 'green' pellets. This candidate satisfies the criteria for a less dispersible form without requiring significant process changes.