Time and Temperature Test Results for PFP Thermal Stabilization Furnaces

The national standard for plutonium storage acceptability (standard DOE-STD-3013-99, generally known as ''the 3013 standard'') has been revised to clarify the requirement for processes that will produce acceptable storage materials. The 3013 standard (Reference 1) now states that ''Oxides shall be stabilized by heating the material in an oxidizing atmosphere to a Material Temperature of at least 950 C (1742 F) for not less than 2 hours.'' The process currently in use for producing stable oxides for storage at the Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) heats a furnace atmosphere to 1000 C and holds it there for 2 hours. The temperature of the material being stabilized is not measured directly during this process. The Plutonium Process Support Laboratories (PPSL) were requested to demonstrate that the process currently in use at PFP is an acceptable method of producing stable plutonium dioxide consistently. A spare furnace identical to the production furnaces was set up and tested under varying conditions with non-radioactive surrogate materials. Reference 2 was issued to guide the testing program. The process currently in use at the PFP for stabilizing plutonium-bearing powders was shown to heat all the material in the furnace to at least 950 C for at least 2 hours. The current process will work for (1) relatively pure plutonium dioxide, (2) dioxide powders mixed with up to 20 weight percent magnesium oxide, and (3) dioxide powders with up to 11 weight percent magnesium oxide and 20 weight percent magnesium nitrate hexahydrate. Time and temperature data were also consistent with a successful demonstration for a mixture containing 10 weight percent each of sodium and potassium chloride; however, the molten chloride salts destroyed the thermocouples in the powder and temperature data were unavailable for part of that run. These results assume that the current operating limits of no more than 2500 grams per furnace charge and a powder height of no more than 1.5 inches remain in effect, although deeper powder beds (up to 2 inches) also yielded temperatures of greater than 950 C for longer than 2 hours