Patent Number: 047602686
Section: summary

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a container for the conditioning of medium or low activity radioactive waste. For facilitating the storage thereof, low and medium activity radioactive waste is normally conditioned or stored in containers in the form of drums sealed by covers. After being placed in the drums, the waste is coated with a bituminous mixture injected through an opening made in the cover. In the case of low activity waste, the containers are normally locked by bolting the cover onto the drum. In the case of medium activity waste, it is not possible for personnel to bolt down the cover, so that the container is locked through the setting of the bituminous mixture. In both cases, the containers takes a long time to lock making the presently used container locking means completely unsuitable for the automation of the operations of conditioning medium and low activity radioactive waste. However, as a result of the increase in the number of nuclear power stations throughout the world, there has been a considerable rise in the amount of waste. It is therefore highly desirable to have an easily remotely manipulatable and lockable container, so that it is possible to achieve a sufficiently high speed to allow the conditioning and coating of the waste by an automatic line. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention therefore specifically relates to a container for medium or low activity radioactive waste, comprising a drum equipped with an open end and a cover able to seal said end, the open end of the drum having a shoulder turned towards the inside thereof, said cover carrying at least three circumferentially spaced tongues, whereof the end is turned so as to be able to bear against said shoulder when the cover bears on the edge of the open end of the drum, wherein the cover comprises two parallel plates interconnected by radial baffle members defining between them angular sectors and an outer cylindrical ferrule fixed to the baffle members between the two plates, a first of said plates having an elastically deformable peripheral portion able to bear on the edge of the open end, said outer cylindrical ferrule having a diameter smaller than the internal diameter of the shoulder and carrying said tongues and wherein the cover also comprises a central ferrule defining an injection shaft traversing the first plate and communicating by openings with part of the angular sectors, said sectors communicating with one another by windows formed in the baffle members and with the interior of the drum by at least one opening formed on the peripherary of the other plate, said first plate being provided in the vicinity of the injection shaft with vents issuing into the angular sectors not communicating with the injection shaft. The automation of the conditioning can be improved by having a means for detecting the presence of the drum filling material level with the vents. In order to guarantee the sealing of the locking of the container, the elastically deformable part of the cover can carry a gasket able to bear on the edge of the open end of the drum.