Y-12 CAPABILITIES AND EXPERTISE RELATED TO MO-99 Lloyd Jollay - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Y-12 CAPABILITIES AND EXPERTISE RELATED TO MO-99 Lloyd Jollay lloyd.jollay@cns.doe.gov Director of Nuclear Material Applications v UNCLASSIFIED This document has been reviewed by a Y-12 DC/UCNI-RO and has been determined to be UNCLASSIFIED and contains no UCNI. This review does not constitute clearance for public release. Name: Date: 1

DISCLAIMER This work of authorship and those incorporated herein were prepared by Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) as accounts of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government under Contract DE-NA-0001942. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor CNS, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility to any non-governmental recipient hereof for the accuracy, completeness, use made, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency or contractor thereof, or by CNS. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency or contractor (other than the authors) thereof. 2

The Y-12 National Security Complex

The Y-12 National Security Complex Located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee Operating production facility specializing in uranium material safeguards, technologies, and manufacturing: • Operational U-Metal Production and Technology Development Facilities • Uranium Metallurgical and Manufacturing Expertise • On-Site Source Material Availability Since FY06, Y-12 has been integrated in fuel development activities supporting the RERTR Program goals. This presentation will focus on the capabilities that might be of interest to the Mo 99 community • Capability • Equipment • Processes

Areas of responsibility related to minimization of the use of HEU Support directly the Materials Management and Minimization (M3) Goals • Remove, eliminate, and minimize the use of proliferation-sensitive materials • Nuclear Material Removal • Conversion • Material Disposition • Core uranium capabilities for Y-12: • Processing • Handling • Storing • Packaging • Shipping • Collaborate with the World to meet these objectives 5

Supply Material for Research Reactors Netherlands Germany Canada Belgium Poland France Romania United States South Korea Japan Egypt Mexico Jamaica Indonesia Peru Australia Chile Argentina South Africa

Supplier of 19.75% Enriched Material • Down-blended from HEU stocks • Currently not available commercially in the US • Necessary for current and future conversion 7

Uranium Processing at Y-12 - Simplified Dissolution Solvent Extraction Evaporation Other Sites Purified Uranyl Nitrate Solution Molten Uranyl Nitrate Uranyl Nitrate Solution Denitration Dis- assembly UO 3 Use/Storage Fluidized Bed Reduction UO 2 Casting Dross & Scrap UO 3 UF 4 Batch Fluidized Bed Blending Hydrofluorination Blended UF 4 UO 2 Machining & U Metal Metal Casting Forming Buttons & Blending UF 4 Logs, Cast Shapes CaF 2 Reduction to Metal Buttons Metal Operations Chemical Operations 8 Original Input

Vacuum Induction Melt Furnace

Low Enriched Uranium Work Flow The hollow logs are broken, sheared, and Y-12 Casts Metal from pickled in accordance to Dismantlement into a the NR requirements consolidated casting in the form of a hollow log. The broken metal pieces are then canned and drummed into an ES-3100 10

Graphite Coated with Erbia HEU + DU Mold Preparation Batch Make-up •Procure mold components •Acquire HEU and DU for isotopic blend •Procure erbium oxide paint •Break charge uranium as necessary •Roller-mix paint •Place material in hospital pan •Check viscosity •Create (weigh) batch •Coat mold components •Clean spray gun •Assemble hollow cylinder stack VIM Isotopic-Blending Pre-melt Casting •Verification weigh/re-weigh •Load induction furnace •Heat, hold, cast, and cool. •Unload furnace •Line-cool To Knockout 11

From Casting Ship oxide off-site Samples to Plant Lab 19.75% U235 Hollow Cylinder/Log/161 Knockout •Remove crucible Crucible with Skull Oxide Chips for Chemical Analysis •Remove skull oxide from crucible •Place skull metal and pallet scrap Graphite Handling in hospital pan •Sweep/can oxide Break/Shear •Disassemble rest of mold stack •Remove coating from unbroken •Break using hydraulic press •Remove cast log from housing mold stack components using •Shear to smaller piece size •Break/gouge/cut out mold core a rotary wire-brush using alligator shear •Rotary-brush log •Evaluate condition of unbroken •Place metal in hospital pan •Apply oil to log components •Weigh broken/sheared batch •Weigh log •Break unusable graphite •Verify Enrichment using •Place broken graphite in multi-channel analyzer “carbon can” •Drill chemistry samples •Move reusable components to coating (mold-prep) area •Burn skull, sweep, and can Ship broken Reusable graphite carbon to Mold Preparation off-site 12

Product from Knock Out The original baseline process combined DU/NU, and HEU to make a LEU Cast • At this point, sampling occurs to examine U- 235 enrichment, and impurities • If material meets criteria, material is broken • Recast into a plate form or shipped for other use

Thin Cast Plates (MWV)

Oxide Production • Currently produce high fired ceramic grade U 3 O 8 for High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) for ORNL and NBSR • Produced UO 2 for Slowpoke Reactor Conversion (Jamaica) HFIR Fuel Element 15

Rolling and Forming of the U-Mo Foil Process

Foil Production Flowsheet

LEU-Foil Target Development & Manufacturing Heat Treatment Furnace Development Rolling Mill

Rolled foils (Bare)

112 µm thick foil

Target as Manufactured

Rolling Target Foil Lessons Learned Target foil thickness is difficult to manufacture • < 150 µ m U foil more difficult to roll than U/Mo Heat Treat Anneals Necessary for desired thickness • New Heat Treat Furnace Installed and Operational 100 µ m foils are now possible.

Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) Mini-Plates Bell Jar Gas Delivery (argon) Zr Metal Source Magnetron Sputter

MW Aluminizing FY18: T/C • Perform proof-of-concept test with Cu in MW Off-gas tube • 2 different compositions: 1. 5%Al, 93%Al 2 O 3 , 2%NH 4 Cl 2. 10%Al, 88%Al 2 O 3 , 2% NH 4 Cl Insulation 3. 800~900°C for 1 to 6 hrs • Perform optical metallography • Thickness & microstructure MW crucible • Micro hardness testing FY19: • Perform in MW with DU coupons Alumina crucible • Repeat same tests and evaluations as with Cu Process*: Pack aluminizing is a diffusion process 1. Diffusion of Al halides (AlCl 3 , AlCl 2 , AlCl) through the vapor phase in Powder mixture the porous pack medium Cu coupon Al powder 2. Reaction of Al halide AlCl 2 with the substrate at temperatures Al 2 O 3 <1000°C NH 4 Cl 3. Diffusion of Al in the solid phase to form aluminide coating layer * M.E. Abd El-Azim, et.al., “Pack Aluminizing of Copper” J. Mater. Sci. Technol., Vol. 13, 1997

Metallography (Cast Iron Aluminum Coating) 25

Additional Capabilities • Swaging • Annealing (Heat Treatment or In-Mold) • Precision Machining • Dimensional Inspection (CMM) • Analytical Chemistry • Metallography 26

TRANSPORTATION • Numerous options exist for near-term U ES-3100 ES-3100 transportation packages including both Type A or B packages. • Some packages may require minimal license amendments primarily for packing/insert design • Long-term, efficient sipping options are dependent on foil packing requirements, configuration, & other limitations. A Few Examples of Potential Transportation Options Allowable Loading (1) Equivalent Foils (2) Equivalent Slab t Shipping Container Shipping Container Type (kg 235 U) (# foils) (inches) TN-BGC1 Fissile Type B 7 93 0.93 ES3100 Fissile Type B 17 227 2.27 5X22 Fissile Type B 9 -- (3) -- (3) -- (3) -- (3) NNFD-10 Fissile Type A 0.35 1. Allowable loading limits will vary depending upon the corresponding package Criticality Safety Index (CSI) and the desired mode of transportation. 2. Assumes stacked foils within primary container. 3. Package internal usable length will not allow stacking of full length foils.

Questions ? 28