Technical Basis for Doe Standard 3013 Equivalency Supporting Reduced Temperature Stabilization of Oxalate-Derived Plutonium Oxide Produced by the Hb-Line Facility at Savannah River Site

Technical basis for the reduction of the maximum temperature TGA-MS analysis of oxide samples from the 3013 destructive examination program

“…The behavior of the intercepts suggests that there are two types of moisture, loosely bound and strongly bound. 4,5,6,7 The loosely bound water is mostly removed by 550 °C, the strongly bound water comes off between 700 °C and 950 °C.…”

“…9 Other analyses of TGA data of Pu oxide show that small amounts of water are detected above 600 °C. [5][6] While salts are known to absorb significant amounts of moisture, the literature indicates that NaCl and KCl are largely anhydrous and that MgCl 2 and CaCl 2 are converted to oxide by 500 °C. 4,[10][11][12][13] The observed loosely bound moisture corresponds to the physisorbed moisture and the waters of hydration on the salt materials, and the strongly bound moisture corresponds to the chemisorbed moisture on the PuO 2 surfaces.…”