Metrology and quality assurance from surveillance of gas compositions over PuO[sub 2]

Until the late 1980s, a primary mission of the Department of Energy (DOE) has been the production of nuclear materials for nuclear weapons. Termination of the Cold War in 1989 and the subsequent nuclear weapons treaties dramatically decreased the inventory needs for nuclear weapons. These activities resulted in the consolidation of nuclear material inventories and activities, generating substantial amounts of surplus nuclear materials ranging from plutonium metal and pure oxides to impure plutonium residues. Packaging and storage of these materials in physically and environmentally safe configurations for significant time periods were required. In 1993 the Defense Nuclear Facility Safety Board (DNFSB) and the DOE Office of Nuclear Safety examined the storage of metal and oxides at the Rocky Flats Plant that ultimately resulted in recommendation 94-1, calling for a standard to define the processing and storage of plutonium bearing materials. This recommendation generated a standard for storage of plutonium metals and oxides, DOE-STD-3013-2000, which is now in its fourth revision. The current DOE 3013 Standard is limited to metal and oxides, which contain greater than 30 weight percent plutonium and uranium. The 3013 Standard requires that the oxide be calcined to 950 C for two hours in an oxidizing environment. Before packaging, the oxide is required to have less than 0.5 weight percent moisture. Up to five kilograms of the stabilized oxide material is subsequently sealed in a set of two-nested welded stainless steel container, which must have a power less than 19 Watts.