Year
2012
Abstract
A system for testing equipment and methods that are used to measure the concentrations of enriched uranium in solutions has been developed at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The system rests on a platform that is about 38-in. wide by 50-in. long. This platform is built to be semi-portable and can be easily moved with a forklift or other device. The system will be used in a production area where solutions are readily available and will be removed from this production area when testing is complete. Holders for four safe bottles are mounted on each corner of the stand. Currently, a 6-ft section of a vertical storage tank is mounted in the center of the tank. The system is designed to be critically safe when filled with solutions that are highly concentrated with highly enriched uranium. The current version of the system is set up for testing the suitability of small cadmium-zinc-telluride detectors for measuring the concentration of enriched uranium in solutions inside the center tank. Once this testing is complete, the center tank will be replaced with sections of 1- and 2-in. pipe where concentration measurements will be acquired as solution flows by two lanthanum-bromide detectors.