Closure Weld Development for 3013 Outer Containers

Excess plutonium materials in the U.S. Department of Energy(DOE) Complex are packaged and stored in accordance withDOE-STD-3013. This standard specifies requirements for thestabilization of such materials and subsequent packaging in dualnested seal-welded containers. Austenitic stainless steels havebeen selected for container fabrication. The inner 3013 containerprovides contamination control while the outer 3013 containeris the primary containment vessel and is the focus of this paper.Each packaging site chose a process for seal welding the outer3013 containers in accordance with its needs and expertise. Thetwo processes chosen for weld closure were laser beam welding(LBW) and gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Following developmentefforts, each system was qualified in accordance withDOE-STD-3013 prior to production use.The 3013 outer container closure weld joint was designed toaccommodate the characteristics of a laser weld. This aspect ofthe joint design necessitated some innovative process and equipmentconsiderations in the application of the GTAW process.Details of the weld requirements and the development processesare presented and several potential enhancements for the GTAWsystem are described.