Claims
- 1. A containment and waste package system for processing and shipping tritium oxide waste received from a process gas stream comprising:
- a) an outer drum having a removable top and a void space;
- b) an inner drum seated within a portion of the void space of the outer drum, and containing a disposable molecular sieve bed (DMSB),
- c) the DMSB having
- i) an inlet diffuser assembly,
- ii) an outlet diffuser assembly, and
- iii) a hydrogen catalytic recombiner;
- iv) inlet and outlet valves;
- d) a cushioning and heat-absorbing material in all void spaces between the outer and inner drums, whereby the DMSB absorbs tritium oxide from the process gas and converts it to a solid form so that the tritium is contained during shipment to a disposal site.
- 2. The containment system of claim 1 wherein the DMSB is filled with type 4A molecular sieve pellets in an amount capable of adsorbing less than 1000 curies of tritium.
- 3. The containment system of claim 2 wherein the inlet diffuser includes an internal baffle for distributing the process gas within the inlet diffuser.
- 4. The containment system of claim 3 wherein the inlet and outlet diffuser assemblies are physically isolated to prevent the molecular sieve from entering the diffusers.
- 5. The containment system of claim 4 wherein the recombiner contains a sufficient amount of catalyst to cause any hydrogen and oxygen present in the process gas to recombine to form water vapor, which is then adsorbed onto the DMSB.
- 6. The containment system of claim 5 wherein the outlet valves are capped by a shutoff means that prevents leakage.
- 7. The containment system of claim 6 wherein the DMSB is provided with a means for protecting the outlet valves and a means for providing that the outer drum will not be breached in the event of movement by the DMSB.
CONTRACTUAL ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The United States Government has rights in this invention pursuant to Contract No. DE-AC02-76CH03073 between the U.S. Department of Energy and Princeton University.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
4950426 |
Markowitz et al. |
Aug 1990 |
|
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1148671 |
Jun 1983 |
CAX |
61-18718 |
May 1986 |
JPX |