Patent Number: 045270651
Section: description

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION The container for storing radioactive material includes a cylindrical vessel 1 which is open at one end. In this way, the upper end portion of the vessel defines the receiving opening 2 for loading the vessel with fuel elements (not shown). The cover and vessel are made of a mechanically strong material. The vessel 1 includes a vessel-shaped base body 4 made of a material such as cast iron or cast steel. The cover has a main body also made of cast iron or cast steel and is provided with a protective layer 16 of corrosion-resistant material such as ceramic. The upper end portion of the vessel 1 and the peripheral portion of the cover 6 define respective joint surfaces 10 and 8. These joint surfaces are mutually adjacent and define the partition interface between the vessel 1 and cover 6 when the cover is seated on the vessel. A weld plating 3 is applied to joint surface 10 of the upper end portion of the vessel 1 and to a portion of the outside surface of the vessel as shown. The weld plating 3 is annular and is made of cold-weldable, corrosive resistant material. A material of the kind from which the annular weld plating is made is an alloy NiMo16Cr16Ti having the tradename Hastelloy C-4. The vessel 1 is closed by the sealing cover 6 welded thereto. This cover 6 has a peripheral portion which includes an annular upwardly extending projection 7 formed at the outer surface thereof. At the region of the peripheral portion facing the vessel 1, the cover 6 is beveled to define the circular annular surface 8. The peripheral portion of the cover 6 is enclosed about its entire periphery with a weld plating 9 likewise made of a cold-weldable material. The weld plating is in the form of an annular band extending laterally from the projection 7 to the inner edge of the annular surface 8. The weld platings 3 and 9 are applied to the vessel 1 and to the cover 6, respectively, by surface-layer welding and are built up by depositing layer upon layer of the cold weldable material Hastelloy C-4. A weld 13 of cold-weldable material seals the cover 6 to the vessel 1 after the vessel has been filled with radioactive material. For further details directed to the partition interface and the joining of the cover 6 to the vessel 1, reference may be had to the copending patent application of Franz-Wolfgang Popp entitled "A Container for the Long-Term Storage of Radioactive Materials" filed on Dec. 14, 1982 and having Ser. No. 449,567. Ribs 15 of a corrosion-resistant material are applied to the vessel-shaped base body 4 of the vessel 1 on the external surface 5 thereof by the surface-layer welding process. The ribs extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base body and about the periphery thereof as shown. NiMo16Cr16Ti known commercially as Hastelloy C-4 was selected as the material for the ribs. The plurality of ribs 15 partition the outside surface 5 of the base body 4 into segment-like areas 11. In these areas, the base body 4 is coated with a corrosion-resistant protective layer 12 of ceramic material which is applied by spraying the material into each segment area formed by the plurality of ribs 15. The point of attachment of the ribs 15 is covered by the ceramic material applied to the base body 4. The ribs 15 project somewhat beyond the surface of the ceramic protective layer 12. By virtue of this arrangement, the metallic ribs 15 provide mechanical protection for the ceramic protective layer areas. FIG. 2 shows a portion of the lower part of the vessel 1 of a container of the type illustrated in FIG. 1. Here, the lower peripheral edge of the vessel is provided with a rib plating 14 to enable the container to withstand a higher mechanical loading. This arrangement protects the protective layer 12 from rupturing and breaking away from the base body at the peripheral edge. Other modifications and variations to the embodiments described will not be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the aforesaid embodiments are not to be construed as limiting the breadth of the invention. The full scope and extent of the present contribution can only be appreciated in view of the appended claims.