A feasibility study and design of a dual hot plate and ventilation system for use in a shielded hot cell

The objective of this thesis is to provide a feasibility study and design for a new dual hot plate and associated ventilation system for the Analytical Research Laboratory (ARL) located at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). This new system is to be installed inside the high radiation shielded hot cell #2. The hot plate and ventilation currently being used utilizes almost 50% of the hot cell floor space while only providing 200 in2 of heating surface during wet chemistry activities. The ARL plays a crucial role in most of the research activities that take place at INL. Samples collected during nuclear fuel cycle studies, whose radiation levels require a shielded hot cell for processing, are consistently required to schedule hot plate availability. Due to the precision of the results produced in the ARL, sample types are segregated and processed separately to prevent cross contamination between samples. In addition to sample dissolutions, the hot plate is also used for sample waste volume reduction. Sample waste volume reduction also competes for hot plate availability. A new dual hot plate and ventilation system, that continues to successfully address chemically hostile vapors and volatile radioactive isotopes produced during the dissolution of samples and sample waste processing, would allow multiple activities to be worked simultaneously. This increased efficiency and throughput will contribute to shortened turnaround times for the qualification of new nuclear materials and advanced nuclear fuels and speed up research that is being performed on the nuclear fuel cycle throughout INL