JPS6126640B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for packaging radioactive waste, particularly non-flammable miscellaneous solid waste, from nuclear power plants or other facilities handling radioactive materials.

In the case of such radioactive waste, the radiation emitted from it has a tremendous impact on living things in the natural world, including humans, so until it is finally disposed of (for example, dumped in the ocean or buried underground), You are required to keep this.
In this case, since the above-mentioned waste is generally extremely bulky, there is a problem in that a very large storage space is required if it is stored as is. Therefore, in order to eliminate this problem, the above waste is once melted in a crucible of a high frequency induction furnace or an arc furnace.
A method was also considered in which the molten material was poured into a solidification container by tilting the furnace body and solidified, and the solidified material was then transferred to a storage container and stored, but this method required a lot of time and effort during the process. There is a problem that it takes a lot of time.

The present invention is designed to eliminate the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a radioactive waste container filling device that can reduce the volume of the waste and also reduce the amount of work required.

Embodiments of the present application will be described below based on the drawings.
In Figure 1, 1 is a waste filter (prefilter, HEPA) as an example of non-flammable radioactive solid waste.
filter). As is well known, such radioactive waste is radioactively contaminated with radioactive species attached to the surface of solid objects.

The waste 1 is packed into storage containers 6 by a container filling device 2. In this operation, large-sized waste may be broken down into smaller pieces using a size reduction device such as a plasma cutter, a hacksaw, or a press before being sent to the device.

The container filling device 2 consists of a transfer section 3 and a melting furnace 4. In the transfer section 3, 15 is a transfer frame;
It has an inlet 16 and an outlet 17 for the waste 1. A transfer means 18 is arranged within the transfer frame 15. The transfer means 18 includes a feed rod 19 having a threaded rod, a moving element 20 screwed onto the feed rod 19, and a pusher 21 integrated with the moving element 20. Therefore, by rotating the feed rod 19, the pusher 21 moves to the right in the figure, and the waste 1 fed into the transfer frame 15 from the feed port 16 is moved from the feed port 17 by the pusher 21. They are sent out one after another. Note that the transfer means 18 may have any other structure. The above-mentioned melting furnace 4 is connected to the above-mentioned outlet 17.
This melting furnace 4 has a furnace body 2 connected to the transfer frame 15.
3, and plasma torches 25 and 28, each of which is attached to the furnace body 23 so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow. Further, a lead-out plate 26 is attached to the furnace body 23. This lead-out plate 26 is made of graphite and serves as an anode for the plasma torch. 27 indicates a power supply connection terminal.

Therefore, when the waste 1 sent out from the outlet 17 of the transfer section 3 passes through the plasma arc film 25a emitted from the plasma torch 25, it is heated and melted by the arc film 25. The object 1a is guided by the outlet plate 26 and flows into the storage container 6 placed at a predetermined storage location as shown. The molten material 1a that has flowed into the container 6 is further heated by a plasma arc from a plasma torch 28 in order to reliably melt it.

Further, the furnace body 23 is connected to the transfer frame 1 as shown in the figure.
It has a blocking wall 24 facing the outlet port 17 of No. 5. This blocking wall 24 prevents waste 1 from moving to the right in FIG.
This prevents the waste material 1 from falling into the container 6 without being melted by the plasma arc film 25a.

The container 6 mentioned above is one that can be used as is for storage as described below, that is, one that is suitable for use as is for storage in terms of its structure, size, cost, durability, etc. . As an example, a canister 7 made of metal (for example, iron) is provided with a crucible 8 made of refractory material (for example, graphite). This container 6 is placed on the transfer device 10 by a transfer device such as a crane 9. The transfer device 10 includes a moving truck 11, a cylinder 12 fixed to the truck 11, a lower cover 13 attached to an advance/retractor 12a of the cylinder 12, and a pedestal 14. The container 6 is placed on the pedestal 14 by the crane 9.
, the transfer device 10 moves below the furnace body 23 in the melting furnace 4. Then, the cylinder 12 is extended, the lower lid 13 closes the lower opening of the furnace body 23, and the container 6 is positioned at a predetermined location within the furnace body 23.

As the above-described operations in the container filling device 2 continue until the container 6 becomes full, the container 6 is removed from the furnace 4 by the transfer device 10. Note that the waste (molten material) in the container 6 solidifies before or during its removal.

Next, the container 6 that has been carried out is covered with a lid 35. This lid 35 is welded to the container 6 by a welding device 36, and the inside of the container 6 is sealed.

The thus sealed container 6 is then transported to a storage warehouse 37 and stored there until it is disposed of at sea or otherwise.

In addition, since the radioactive waste packed in the container 6 as described above is melted as described above, the radioactive species attached to the surface of the solid object are removed before melting. The seeds are embedded in the molten material, and when solidified again, the above-mentioned species are incorporated into the solid material that has been solidified after being melted. Therefore, a portion of the radiation emitted from the species is blocked by the solid object, so that the amount of radiation coming out of the container 6 is small.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a different embodiment of the melting furnace, in which a plurality of plasma torches 25e, 25e, 25
The torches e are arranged horizontally so that a plasma arc film 25ae is formed by these torches. In such a structure, although not shown in the drawings, a thin rod serving as an anode is provided so as to be movable up and down for the well-known ignition operation of a plasma torch.

It should be noted that parts that are functionally the same or equivalent to those in the previous figure are given the same reference numerals as in the previous figure with an alpha e, and redundant explanations are omitted.

As described above, in this invention, the transfer frame 15
By sending the radioactive solid waste 1 placed in the
is melted at the plasma arc membrane 25a and can be immediately packed directly into the storage container 6, so the bulky wastes 1, 1, etc. are sent out one after another from within the transfer frame. As a result, it has the advantage that it can be quickly reduced in bulk, and at the same time, it can be packed in a molten state with reduced bulk into a storage container 6 of a desired shape (a container with a small opening may also be used). Moreover, when the bulky radioactive solid waste 1 is stored in a small volume, it is effective in improving workability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present application, and FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a waste container filling process using a radioactive solid waste container filling device, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a different embodiment. A sectional view shown. 1...Radioactive solid waste, 15...Transfer frame, 1
6... Inlet port, 17... Outlet port, 25... Plasma torch, 25a... Plasma arc film, 6...
container.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The transfer frame is equipped with an inlet on one side for receiving radioactive solid waste and an outlet on the other side, into which the radioactive solid waste can be transferred from the inlet side to the outlet side. A plasma torch is attached to the delivery port so that a plasma arc film for melting the radioactive solid waste successively sent out from the delivery port can be stretched over the delivery port, A container filling device for radioactive solid waste, characterized in that a storage container storage area for filling the melt is provided below the outlet.