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US 10,902,963 B2Granted
Decayed waste retrieval method and system
AssigneeAtomic Energy of Canada Limited
InventorsMichel Gaudet, Neil Briden, Malcolm Clough
Life of this patent
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AssigneeAtomic Energy of Canada Limited
InventorsMichel Gaudet, Neil Briden, Malcolm Clough
Estimating the term…
It is common to store decayed radioactive waste in waste packages, lowered into vertical concrete cylindrical storage containers called tile holes. These containers of these packages decay over time and may become fragile, making it difficult to remove them using conventional methods. A retrieval tool has been developed, comprising a cylinder that fits between the tile hole internal diameter and the outside diameter of the waste package inside the tile hole. Inflatable air wedges are equally spaced inside the cylinder. The air wedges are inflated to a low pressure (2.1 psig) to provide uniform grip to the outside of the packages, minimizing the risk of damage to the decayed containers. A back-up system uses horizontal safety bars at the bottom of the cylinder, which may be rotated to form a partial platform under the waste package, preventing the package from falling in the event of a failure.
A tool for retrieving contents from a hole comprising:
A waste package retrieval system for retrieving waste packages from a tile hole comprising:
A method of retrieving a cylindrical container from a tile hole comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.