Hydration of uranium residues contained in enriched UF6 cylinders

Year
2016
Author(s)
M. Milin - IRSN - France
Julien Rannou - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Lucile Viaulle - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Grégory Caplin - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
Stéphane Evo - Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), Fontenay-aux-Roses, France
File Attachment
F2029.pdf239.88 KB
Abstract
The transport of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is carried out in large steel cylinders. During filling and extraction operations, some air in-leakage in cylinders is possible and its moisture content results in the hydrolysis of UF6 and the creation of non-volatile uranium residues, in particular UO2F2 complexes with H2O and HF. This paper presents justifications for considering, in criticality safety assessments of enriched UF6 transport cylinders, a bounding hydration ratio H/U of 6 for uranium residues, based on the operating conditions of UF6 cylinders in fuel facilities.