Investigation and Literature Survey of the Performance of Teflon and OtherElastomeric Materials in Radiolytic Environments, Project No. MTL-MS-00-025

摘要

The purpose of this report is to present a review of the use of Teflon (C2F4)products in a radiation environment and to identify radiation resistant materials to replace Teflon.The purpose arose as a result of a Pu-238 exposure at TA-55.The exposure resulted from a loose nut on a compression fitting attaching a copper vacuum service line to a process glovebox. During the investigation of the exposure,it was determined that the ball valve in the problem line contained Teflon seats that had degraded under high levels of radiation exposure.The degradation caused inadvertent pressurization,which contributed to the Pu-238 exposure. The TA-55 exposure demonstrates the need to replace Teflon with radiation resistant materials (the use of Teflon in plutonium production gloveboxes has been questioned for years) and to establish safe service lifetimes of such materials.