Stainless steel interactions with salt-containing plutonium oxides

Salt-containing plutonium oxide materials are treated, packaged and stored within nested, stainless steel containers based on requirements established in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 3013 Standard. The moisture limit for the stored materials is less than 0.5 weight percent. Surveillance activities that are conducted to assess the condition of the containers and assure continuing 3013 container integrity include the destructive examination of a select number of containers to determine whether corrosion attack has occurred as a result of stainless steel interactions with salt containing plutonium oxides. To date, some corrosion has been observed on the innermost containers, however, no corrosion has been noted on the outer containers and the integrity of the 3013 container systems is not expected to be compromised over a fifty-year storage lifetime.