Year
1994
Abstract
Current budgetary constraints coupled with the amounts of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) being recovered from disassembled nuclear weapons have driven the need to develop an inexpensive, secure storage system for those materials. Specifically in the case of the Y-12 Plant. Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU). The Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant has completed engineering, safety, and criticality studies on a new modular storage concept. Engineering studies and vulnerability assessments show that all security and storage requirements can be met with a modular stackable concrete storage pallet. Significant construction cost savings are realized relative to the conventional vault approach. Storage costs for 30 metric tons of uranium metal are less that $100,00.00, for the storage pallets and caps, compared to over $1,000,000.00 for the conventional SNM vault.The modular design concept and system flexibility assure the ability to adapt to different site and SNM material requirements for the same basic costs while providing consistently high levels of security.