Electrolytic decontamination of the 3013 inner can

Disposition of plutonium recovered from nuclear weapons or production residues must be stored in a manner that ensures safety. The criteria that has been established to assure the safety of stored materials for a minimum of 50 years is DOE-STD-3013. Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has designed a containment package in accordance with the DOE standard. The package consists of an optional convenience (food pack) can, a welded type 304L stainless steel inner (primary) can, and a welded type 304L stainless steel outer (secondary) can. With or without the food pack can, the material is placed inside the primary can and welded shut under a helium atmosphere. This activity takes place totally within the confinement of the glove box line. Following the welding process, the can is checked for leaks and then sent down the line for decontamination. Once decontaminated, the sealed primary can may be removed from the glove box line. Welding of the secondary container takes place outside the glove box line. The highly automated decontamination process that has been developed to support the packaging of Special Nuclear Materials is based on an electrolytic process similar to the wide spread industrial technique of electropolishing. The can is placed within a specially designed stainless steel fixture built within a partition of a glove box. This fixture is then filled with a flowing electrolyte solution. A low DC electric current is made to flow between the can, acting as the anode, and the fixture, acting as the cathode. Following the decontamination, the system provides a flow of rinse water through the fixture to rinse the can of remaining salt residues. The system then carried out a drying cycle. Finally, the fixture is opened from the opposite side of the partition and the can surface monitored directly and through surface smears to assure that decontamination is adequate