Apparatus and method for volume reduction for nuclear decommissioning and refurbishment
AssigneeAts Corporation
InventorsDavid Taro Morikawa, Mark Johannesson, Matthew Wong
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for volume reduction of material removed from a hazardous environment. The apparatus includes a shielded housing for receiving a workpiece therein, at least one cutting unit having a cutting head operable for contactless cutting, and a drive unit for rotating the at least one cutting unit around a main axis so the cutting head cuts the workpiece.
Claims20
An apparatus for volume reduction of material removed from a nuclear facility, comprising:
- a. a shielded housing for receiving therein an irradiated-workpiece from the nuclear facility, the housing including radiation shielding to shield an adjacent space from radiation from the workpiece that would limit the amount of time that a person could spend in the adjacent space;
- b. at least one cutting unit having a cutting head contained within the shielded housing and operable for contactless cutting within the shielded housing;
- and
- c. a drive unit for rotating the at least one cutting unit around a main axis so the cutting head cuts the workpiece within the shielded housing.
A method of volume reducing an irradiated workpiece, comprising:
- a. receiving within a shielded housing the irradiated workpiece from a nuclear facility, the housing including radiation shielding to shield an adjacent space from radiation from the workpiece that would limit the amount of time that a person could sp ad in the adjacent space, the shielded housing also containing a contactless cutting head of a cutting unit;
- and
- b. rotating the cutting unit around a main axis so that the contactless cutting head cuts the irradiated workpiece within the shielded housing.
An apparatus for volume reduction of used material removed from a nuclear facility, comprising:
- a. a shielded housing for receiving therein an irradiated workpiece of the used material from the nuclear facility, the housing including radiation shielding to shield an adjacent space from radiation from the workpiece resulting from use of the workpiece in the nuclear facility;
- b. at least one cutting unit having a cutting head contained within the shielded housing and operable for contactless cutting within the shielded housing;
- and
- c. a drive unit for rotating the at least one cutting unit around a main axis so the cutting head cuts the workpiece within the shielded housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.