Plutonium immobilization project - Robotic canister loading

The Plutonium Immobilization Project (PEP) is a joint venture between the Savannah River Site (SRS), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). When operational in 2008, the PIP will fulfill the nation's nonproliferation commitment by placing surplus weapons-grade plutonium in permanently stable ceramic forms that will be encapsulated within canisters containing high level waste glass to make it unattractive for reuse. Since there are significant radiation and security concerns, the project team is developing unique technologies to remotely perform plutonium immobilization tasks. The remote task covered in this paper employs a jointed arm robot to load seven 3.5 " (89 mm) diameter, 135 lb. (61 kg) cylinders (magazines containing cans of ceramic pucks) through the 4 " (102mm) diameter throat of a stainless steel canister. Working through the narrow canister throat, the robot secures the magazines into a specially designed rack pre-installed in the canister. To provide theft deterrent, the canisters are subsequently filled with high level radioactive waste glass. This operation will be performed at the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), which began operating in 1996.