Plutonium Disposition by Immobilization Page: 4 of 6
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Early in the D&T program, evaluations of the
projected feed stream radiation levels and the
proposed process unit operations led the D&T team
to investigate automation as a means of reducing
operator exposure. Automation involves some added
capital expenditure, but is expected to reduce
operating and overall project costs given the high
cost of manual operations in plutonium gloveboxes.
The large number of repetitive and tedious tasks also
lends itself to a consideration of automated systems.
Automation offers important advantages in process
consistency, quality assurance, efficiency, and fissile
material safeguards. For these reasons, the plant
process operations will be about 80% automated.
FEED & PRODUCT
The PIP expects a wide variety of feed materials'
including impure metal; several plutonium alloys;
pure, impure, and mixed oxides; unirradiated fuel;
residues; scraps; and other forms. These feed
materials include both weapons and non-weapons
grade plutonium. An optional feed stream, should
the second disposition capability (reactor irradiation
of MOX fuel) not be implemented, would be
plutonium generated in the Pit Disassembly and
Conversion Facility from pure weapons-grade metal
and pits.
These feed materials will be chemically
combined with titanate mineral formers into a
ceramic form that has several important advantages
over other forms considered. These include
extremely low leachability, the existence of natural
mineral analogues that have demonstrated actinide
retention over geologic time scales, and the high solid
solubility of actinides in the ceramic resulting in a
reasonable overall waste volume. LLNL, working
with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organization (ANSTO), developed the baseline
formulation comprising 85% pyrochlore, 10%
brannerite, and 5% rutile.4
PROCESS FLOWSHEET
The immobilization process flow is illustrated in
Fig. 2. The process can be divided into four major
systems: (1) material receipt and storage; (2)
plutonium materials conversion into acceptable oxide
feed; (3) first stage immobilization involving ceramic
formation and can loading; and (4) second stage
immobilization involving the can-in-canister
operations in the PIP and in the DWPF. In 19 out of
22 process systems, automation and robotics playimportant roles. Automated systems are used to
move material among gloveboxes and in and out of
the storage vaults. Automation is incorporated into
several systems including:
" Material receipt and storage,
" Oxide fuel feed preparation,
" Material size reduction,
* Material unpackaging and sorting,
* Materials characterization,
* Materials control and accountability,
* Ceramification
* Puck loading into cans
* Canister loading,
* Canister handling.
Specific automated equipment include: automated
guided vehicles (AVGs), the inter-glovebox transport
system, crucible transport metal conversion, hopper
transport and puck handling in ceramification, and
magazine loading into canisters and canister handling
in second stage immobilization._FFTF
Storage
and
Other Mtl
StabIIIzed
Non-P i
Material
Olher
Oxidea
Conversion RecoveryPu conversion
Oxide Fuel
Feedl Prep
,mpure
IOxide
Fe op
Cover ionFirst-stage immobilization
Fed Ceramic CanI Interi
y at nmg Formation Loading Srage
Second-stage immobilization
DWPF Cnistner aner Canister
0 erations MaJ Trans er
Intriru
StarN1163_1-
Figure 2. Process flow diagram
The D&T team is now installing and testing
prototypical arrangements of the metal conversion
(HYDOX) and ceramification modules, including
some of the automated operations, as shown in Fig. 3
and 4. The HYDOX module, which will be
demonstrated with plutonium in the fall of 2000, is a
fully automated, full-scale prototype of the dry
chemical system that will be used to convert
plutonium metal and alloys into a suitable oxide for
ceramification. The ceramification module, which
will be used to demonstrate the process with
plutonium in early 2001, is also automated and is
functionally prototypical of the plant process.
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Gould, T.; DiSabatino, A. & Mitchell, M. Plutonium Disposition by Immobilization, article, March 7, 2000; Livermore, California. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc738343/m1/4/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.