Container and closure means for storage of radioactive material

Abstract

In the final storage of radioactive substances in containers, these containers must be sealed so as to be gas-tight by means of a cover, before they are taken to the final storage place. In order to avoid thermal stress, which has up till now been customary, of the radioactive substances on the one hand and of the container and cover on the other hand, it is proposed that the container and the sealing cover should be suitably ground on their seating areas which cooperate with each other, and when the container is closed the cover is held by prestressing on the seating area of the container. In a preferred method, after grinding, a thin equalizing layer of a highly corrosion-resistant, deformable material is applied to at least one of the seating surfaces of the container and cover, in order to achieve a compensation for any roughness which may be present, which will improve the sealing, depending on the technically and/or economically possible extent of the grinding. It is also possible, however, to form the prestressing by means of a lapped contact.