DE2620551C3 - Plant for processing radioactive substances or toxic products - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a plant for processing radioactive or toxic substances Products, with several chemical or mechanical treatments of the starting products one after the other are carried out, with glove boxes provided for the treatments, which are arranged in groups are arranged, the interior of which is reverberated under negative pressure.

For the production of substances that emit radioactive rays or are highly toxic, as well as for treatment For substances in an aggressive atmosphere, so-called glove boxes are used in many cases. Around To be able to perform tasks within a glove box, this has openings that are closed with rubber gloves.

In order to prevent toxic material from escaping in the event of a leak in the glove box, im Glove box creates a negative pressure in that it is connected to a suction line.

In the event of malfunctions and accidents, however, it cannot be ruled out that the inside of a Such glove box located atmosphere in the work space in which the glove box is arranged, exits. For this reason it is over Security reasons angry the individual Glove box, which in the making of vain stuff are necessary to accommodate in separate rooms. This has the advantage that in the case of a accident-related contamination only part of the entire system fails On the other hand, it is more difficult to keep the glove boxes in separate rooms Material flow and increases the susceptibility of the entire system to failure. For the state of the art, please refer to the journal "Das Radiochemische Laboratorium", pages 205-212, March 1956, No. 3, referred to, according to which it is known to be in laboratory buildings between the

different pressure conditions in different rooms to be provided in the sense of a limitation of a possible contamination.

The object of the present invention is to provide a plant for processing a nuclear fuel, indicate other radioactive material or a toxic product in which the failure of individual Plant components do not have to lead to the shutdown of the entire plant without having to accommodate the Treatment of necessary glove boxes in separate buildings makes processing and one more difficult in turn, a higher security risk must be accepted.

According to the invention, the solution to the problem described consists in the above-mentioned plant: that the individual groups of glove boxes each for similar aggregate states or treatment processes of the substance to be treated are provided that the groups are separated in different, only gas-tight containers connected via lock pipes

m system material are arranged that all containers in are housed in a common building and that in a known manner the internal pressure of all The container is above the pressure in the glove boxes and below the pressure in the building.

An exemplary embodiment is shown in its essential parts in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 3 shows a device for a lock tube, which we applied for connecting the container to ^r k>. in.

F i g. 1 shows the building with the adjoining

4i) the ventilation center 2 (fan and filter room) in the supervision. Containers 3, the walls of which are made of steel, are set up inside the building, but also can be made of plastic. Air inlet openings 4 are provided above the container 3, into the air filter

Vi are used. In addition, units are arranged on the roof of the container 3 or the corridors within the building 1, such as a storage container 5 which does not contain any radioactive substances. This causes these aggregates to go through

ID accidental contamination within the container 3 not touched. In the containers 3 there are glove boxes 6 set up.

As in particular from FIG. 2, these glove boxes 6 are on different containers 3

Vi split. All of these measures make it possible to provide compact and yet well-ventilated containers that are suitable as work rooms and can withstand a high negative pressure relative to the building with a low wall thickness. The glove boxes in container 31 are used

W) for example to convert pre-flowing Plutoni ' ufn nitrate to plutonium dioxide powderi This plutonium dioxide powder extended through a lock pipe 7 into the container 32, in which the Plutöni Umdiöxid with uranium oxide mixed and compressed into tablets (pellets). Another lock pipe 8 leads to a container 33, in the glove boxes are arranged in which the powder from the container 32 is sintered into solid materials will. Further containers 34, 35 and 36 are used for

Covering the sintered pieces (pellets) with tubes, for testing the fuel elements produced in this way and as Finished goods warehouse.

All containers 3 are accessible from the interior of building 1 via locks 9, each with two doors. In the locks 9 measuring devices 10 are attached, which are used to measure activity (Sti ahlenmess) and indicate whether substances containing substances are within the respective lock 9 are located. Another lock 11 is provided on the wall of the building 1 through which the building can be entered and exited. in the Building 1 also contains the control cabinets 12 required to operate the devices used arranged. The interior of the container 3 is via an air duct 13 with suction openings 14 and via a suction pipe 15 is connected to a fan 16. The fan 16 promotes the extracted air after filtering in a chimney 17. The air inlet openings 4 on the roof of the container 3 and the air inlet opening 18 from the Lüftungszenlraie 2 in the building 1 are in their Dimension the cross-section so that there is a negative pressure of 1 to 3 mm WS and inside the building A negative pressure of 10 to 20 mm WS builds up inside the container 3 To produce the negative pressure inside the glove boxes 6, which is 30 to 50 mm WS, is through a pipe system 19 and a Fan 20 maintained. The negative pressure in the tanks is high relative to the negative pressure in the building economical mainly through the use of an absolutely gas-tight material for the walls and by arranging the units for the energy supply, ventilation, etc. in the building, but outside the Container 3 allows.

Fig.3 shows the junction between the Lock tube 7 and the lock tube 8. Within the lock tubes are rails 21 or conveyor belts 22 arranged for transporting the material container 25. Inside the lock pipes are closable openings 23, a space 24 from Inside the lock pipes 7 and 8 can complete. Is the material container 25 in space 24 and If the openings 23 are closed, a further opening 26 leading into a glove box 28 can be opened so that the material container 25 can be removed or inserted. This system of Lock pipes allow a perfect shielding

Hi mung of the individual containers 3 from one another. Possibly Further lock pipes 27 can be provided, the additional transport options between open up to individual containers. If, for example, the container 32 fails due to a malfunction and can be used for

ι ', can no longer be used for a certain period of time by arranging further glove boxes the remaining containers remain in operation and the work flow are at least approximately maintained.

List of reference symbols

1 building

2 ventilation center

3 containers

4 air inlets

5 storage tanks

6 glove box

7 sluice tube

8 sluice tube

9 locks

10 measuring device

11 lock

12 control cabinets

13 air duct

14 suction opening

15 suction tube

16 fans

17 fireplace

18 Air inlet opening

19 piping system

20 fans

21 rail

22 conveyor belt

23 opening

24 room

25 material container

26 opening

27 sluice tube

28 glove box

31 containers

32 containers

33 containers

34 containers

35 containers

36 containers

For this purpose 2 BIaIt drawings

Claims (3)

Patent claims: 1. Plant for processing radioactive substances or toxic products, with several chemical or mechanical treatments of the starting products being carried out one after the other, glove boxes are provided for the treatments, which are arranged in groups, the interior of which is kept under negative pressure, characterized in that the individual groups of glove boxes (6) are provided for similar aggregate states or treatment processes of the substance to be treated, that the groups are arranged separately in different containers (31-36) made of gas-tight material, only connected via lock pipes, that all containers are in a common building {ή are housed and that, in a known way, the internal pressure of all containers (31-36) is above the pressure in the glove boxes (6) and below the pressure in the building (1) 2. Plant according to claim 1, characterized in that the interior of the container (3) has a Suction pipe (15) and a fan (16) is kept under negative pressure and that air inlet openings (4) and an air inflow opening (18) in the wall of the container (3) and in the wall of the Building (') are provided and dimensioned so that there is a greater than negative pressure in the containers (3) in the building (1). 3. Plant according to claim 1 with locks in the Walls of the container and the building, characterized in that between the Doors in the locks (9) are measuring devices (10) for measuring radiation.