Y-12 STABILIZES WEEPING CYLINDERS AT BETA-2E
NS&D Monitor
1/31/2014
An unusual and potentially tricky situation in Y-12’s Beta-2E facility—where warhead parts are assembled and disassembled and inspected for quality—has apparently been stabilized until future actions for disposition become necessary. A November report by staff of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board described the situation and the actions being taken by B&W Y-12, the contractor at the site. According to the report, personnel had accumulated “several chip dolly cylinders” that contained uranium chips that were contaminated with an unnamed hazardous material. “Currently, there is no disposition path for the material in these cylinders, some of which were originally packed approximately seven years ago and have not been inspected since,” the report by safety board staff said.
The report suggested that B&W was concerned that the non-flammable solvent used to prevent rapid chip oxidation in the cylinders may have partially evaporated. “Further, personnel have observed this solvent weeping from one of the cylinders,” the report said. Engineers at Y-12 were reportedly developing a procedure that would allow some of the plant’s assembly and quality evaluation workers to open the cylinders inside a hood to inspect the solvent level and—if needed—add more solvent.
Periodic Inspections to Continue
Steven Wyatt, a spokesman at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, said in response to questions, “The chip dolly was inspected and minor repairs initiated to make sure the material is in a safe and stable storage condition.” He added: “Periodic inspections will continue and long-term disposition path forward is being evaluated.” Another DNFSB report, dated Dec. 20, 2013, indicated there were some problems when trying to follow up the inspections of the dollies. A remotely-operated chain hoist failed during a quality evaluation operation in a glovebox, allowing a 200-pound fixture to fall several feet and contact the bottom of the glovebox. Nobody was injured, the safety board’s staff reported.
The procedure was part of the effort to inspect two of the “legacy chip dolly cylinders that contain uranium chips with no defined disposition path.” The staff report noted, “The purpose of the inspection was to ensure that the cylinders contained enough solvent to prevent chip oxidation. Prior to the inspection, workers applied an epoxy material to an area around the base of one of the cylinders that appeared to be weeping small amounts of fluid. The inspection revealed that the chips in one of the cylinders—the one that showed no indications of weeping—were not fully covered. However, there was no indication that the uncovered chips had oxidized and there were no signs of rapid oxidation during the inspection. Workers added solvent to this cylinder and returned the dolly to its storage location.”
