Evaluation of Polyvinyl Chloride Bags During Plutonium Storage

This evaluation considers the storage of plutonium materials in 9975 shipping packages at the Savannah River Site (SRS) K-Area Complex (KAC). The materials are packaged in a can – bag – can configuration where the outer can is a screw lid filtered can and the inner can is a slip lid filtered can (filters for both cans are located in the can lid). The inner slip lid can is secured using polyvinyl chloride tape. A filtered plasticized polyvinyl chloride (pPVC) bag is used to bag out the slip lid can from the glove box where the plutonium oxide is packaged. The filtered bag and slip lid can are placed into the outer screw lid can outside the glove box. This can – bag – can configuration is packaged into a 9975 shipping package for storage. An empty “dummy” tin plated carbon steel can (with a hole in the lid) is packaged on top of the screw lid can inside the 9975 Primary Containment Vessel (PCV). The threshold heat generation such that the thermal decomposition of the pPVC bag is precluded is 7 Watts. In addition, the maximum 9975 PCV pressure is computed for normal conditions of storage of the 9975 shipping package in K-Area Complex (KAC).