Thermal Stabilization FY 1999 blend plan

This Blend Plan documents the alternate feed material items for the thermal stabilization process that will be used in place of the metal items that were originally planned to be processed. Problems with resolution of the safety basis for the metal items resulted in the decision to run material that already had an established safety basis. Various in process and scrap recovery items stored in gloveboxes, plutonium oxide and plutonium oxide mixed with uranium oxide stored in 2736-Z vaults will be processed through the stabilization furnaces until the safety basis for the metal items has been resolved. The purpose of thermal stabilization is to heat the material to 1000 degrees Celsius to drive off all volatile materials and leave the plutonium and/or uranium as oxides. The stabilized material will be sampled to determine the Loss On Ignition (LOI). The stabilized material must meet LOI of less than 0.5% to be acceptable for storage under DOE-STD-3013-94 specifications. Out of specification material will be recycled through the furnaces until the LOI limits are met