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Title: A brief history of the PUREX and UO{sub 3} facilities

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/10115226· OSTI ID:10115226

The Plutonium-Uranium Extraction (PUREX) Plant, conceived during the early Cold War years, was a vehicle to increase significantly US nuclear weapons production capacity. The original PUREX Plant was a concrete rectangle 1,005 feet long and 61.5 feet wide. The shielding capacity of the concrete was designed so that personnel in non-regulated service areas would not receive radiation in excess of 0.1 millirem per hour. This report discusses the design of the PUREX Plant, the production chronology, projects and equipment changes, equipment decontamination and reuse, waste management, and contamination events that have occurred during the operation of the plant. Additionally, the development and history of the Uranium Trioxide Plant are also covered.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-87RL10930
OSTI ID:
10115226
Report Number(s):
WHC-MR-0437; ON: DE94004825; TRN: 94:001209
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Nov 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English