The Safe Storage of Plutonium Oxide

氧化钚的安全储存

• 批准号: 2504918
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lancaster University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2504918
• 关键词: Safe; Storage; Plutonium; Oxide

The safe and secure storage of plutonium (Pu) materials is a matter of international concern with ~250 tonnes of separated Pu stockpiled worldwide. Over half of this, resulting from ~50 years civil nuclear fuel reprocessing, is in long term storage in the UK whilst the Government considers options for its final treatment and disposition. This Pu is stored as calcined PuO2 powder in nested, sealed steel storage cans. Under certain circumstances, gas generation may occur with consequent storage package pressurisation. In practice, this is rarely seen and empirically derived criteria are used to maintain safe storage conditions. Nonetheless, this is a potential scenario that must be avoided in practice - thus the fundamental mechanisms that could lead to pressurisation must be understood. 5 main routes have been suggested:(i) Helium accumulation from alpha decay;(ii) Decomposition of polymeric packing material;(iii) Steam produced by H2O desorption from hygroscopic PuO2 due to self-heating;(iv) Radiolysis of adsorbed water; and,(v) Generation of H2 by chemical reaction of PuO2 with H2O.The last 4 mechanisms are being studied as part of the work of the EPSRC TRANSCEND (TRANSformative SCience & Engineering for Nuclear Decommissiong) consortium (www.transcendconsortium.org). This project, a collaboration between the University of Lancaster, the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) and Sellafield Ltd, seeks to understand the role that the first of these mechanisms, helium from alpha decay, might play in pressurisation. Innovative sample preparation and thermal / gravimetric analysis methods for the study of this will first be developed at the university and then deployed on real samples at NNL. Data & knowledge generated will be transferred to Sellafield Ltd via the NNL and used in better underpinning of the Pu storage safety cases.This studentship is offered as part of the "Growing skills for Reliable Economic Energy from Nuclear" (GREEN) Centre for Doctoral Training (https://www.nuclear-energy-cdt.manchester.ac.uk/), a collaboration between the Universities of Lancaster, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. GREEN aims to develop and deliver the research and skills required to address key challenges in the field of nuclear energy across the entire fuel cycle.

钚（Pu）材料的安全可靠储存是一个国际关注的问题，全世界约有250吨分离的Pu储存。其中超过一半是由50年的民用核燃料后处理产生的，在英国长期储存，而政府正在考虑其最终处理和处置的选择。这种Pu以煅烧的PuO2粉末的形式储存在嵌套的密封钢储罐中。在某些情况下，储气包增压可能会产生气体。在实践中，这种情况很少发生，经验推导的标准被用来维持安全的储存条件。尽管如此，这是一种必须在实践中避免的潜在情况——因此，必须了解可能导致加压的基本机制。提出了5种主要途径：(1)α衰变积累氦；分解聚合包装材料；（iii）具有吸湿性的PuO2由于自身加热，H2O解吸产生的蒸汽；吸附水的辐射分解；(v) PuO2与H2O化学反应生成H2。最后4种机制正在作为EPSRC TRANSCEND（核退役变革科学与工程）联盟工作的一部分进行研究（www.transcendconsortium.org）。该项目由兰开斯特大学、国家核实验室（NNL）和塞拉菲尔德有限公司合作，旨在了解这些机制中的第一个——α衰变产生的氦——在加压中可能发挥的作用。创新的样品制备和热/重量分析方法将首先在大学开发，然后在NNL的实际样品上部署。生成的数据和知识将通过NNL传递给Sellafield Ltd，并用于更好地支持Pu存储安全案例。该奖学金是兰开斯特大学、曼彻斯特大学、利物浦大学、利兹大学和谢菲尔德大学合作的博士培训中心（https://www.nuclear-energy-cdt.manchester.ac.uk/）“从核能中获得可靠经济能源的发展技能”的一部分。GREEN旨在开发和提供解决整个燃料循环中核能领域关键挑战所需的研究和技能。