Remote vacuum cleaner for PUREX cells

In PUREX, remote handling of hazardous solid material is done with canyon cranes. Mechanical handling of nuclear material is kept to a minimum by dissolving the feed fuel stock as early as practical in the PUREX process, allowing subsequent steps to be performed by pumping. Removal of fine material, such as gravel, rust, dried chemicals, etc., from cells is particularly troublesome. The need to remove fine material has become more important since the restart of PUREX. Aerosol and spilled acids have degraded some of the concrete in the cell floors over the years and have eaten material from vessel support dunnage, generating quantities of rust powder. These materials need to be removed and disposed of to allow repair of surfaces in the cells and to reduce migration of contamination out of the cells into the canyon. To remove fine material and spilled liquid, Rockwell Hanford Operations developed a vacuum cleaner that can be handled by a crane hook. The vacuum cleaner system is described. Tests of the vacuum cleaner system have demonstrated satisfactory operation