CONTAINERS AND REFRACTORY METAL COATING THEREFORE FOR CONTAINING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
Fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container using the steps of forming cylindrical or rectangular channels to produce a structural component for a spent nuclear fuel container and applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to the cylindrical or rectangular channels.
1 . A method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container, comprising the steps of:
forming cylindrical or rectangular channels to produce a structural component for a spent nuclear fuel container,
applying a coating that includes
tantalum-based and enriched boron material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels, and
using diode arrays to treat said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
2 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of using diode arrays to treat said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises diode arrays to heat said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
3 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of using diode arrays to treat said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises diode arrays to anneal said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
4 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises
5 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said enriched boron material is boron carbide (B4C), tantalum diboride (TaB2), hafnium diboride (HfB2), zirconium diboride (ZrB2), or iron-based boron-containing amorphous metal.
6 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of forming cylindrical or rectangular channels to produce a structural component for a spent nuclear fuel container comprises forming flat plates and bending or rolling said flat plates into cylindrical or rectangular channels.
7 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises thermal spraying said tantalum-based material to deposit said tantalum-based material on said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
8 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises cold spraying said tantalum-based material to deposit said tantalum-based material on said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
9 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises high-velocity oxy fuel spraying said tantalum-based material to deposit said tantalum-based material on said cylindrical or rectangular channels.
10 . The method of fabricating structural components for a spent nuclear fuel container of claim 1 wherein said step of applying a coating that includes tantalum-based material to said cylindrical or rectangular channels comprises high-velocity laser-accelerated deposition spraying said tantalum-based material to deposit said tantalum-based material on said cylindrical or rectangular channels.