Modular Radiological Containment System
Team: Samuel Cantwell, Alex Himelberger, Zack Fraser, Karmen Teuscher, McKay Meccariello, and Lauryn Leiseth
Sponsor: Naval Nuclear Laboratory
Project Description
The Naval Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) has a number of processes that require contaminants to be sealed within radiological containments. Accidents or one-off processes often require custom containments which are costly and take time to design and build. To solve the problem of handling unique, one-off containment processes, NNL wants a modular radiological containment system that can be easily assembled and used for individual scenarios.
Design
Complete containment design in CAD
Complete and assembled containment box
Transfer Sleeve
Swipe Port
Glove Port
HEPA Filter
Requirements
| Requirements | Target | Threshold | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air and Watertight | N/A | No smoke enters while under vacuum | Zero leaks |
| Set-up Time | 1 Hour | 3 Hours | 1 Hour |
| Panel Weight | 20 lbs | 50 lbs | 14.6 lbs |
| Cost | N/A | $5,000 | $4,757.04 |
| Volume | N/A | 15.625 ft³ | 15.625 ft³ |
| Glove Ports | N/A | 2 | 2 |
| Swipe Port | N/A | 1 | 1 |
| Transfer Sleeve | N/A | 1 | 1 |
| Vacuum Port | N/A | 1 | 1 |
| HEPA Filter | N/A | 1 | 1 |
The modular radiological containment is an acrylic T-slot based design. This design uses square sheets of acrylic housed in T-slot frames to provide modularity. The design uses different panels for individual subsystems including glove ports, transfer sleeves, HEPA filter, and swipe ports.
The requirement of airtightness was satisfied by a smoke test of the sealed edges while under vacuum. The test passed when no smoke entered the containment.
The watertightness requirement was satisfied by pouring water on the sealed edges as well as the subsystem seals. The seals passed when water did not leak for 5 minutes.
The set-up time was tested by assembling a 1x1x1 panel box with 3 operators. The time to assemble was 1 hour.
The panels each weigh 14.6 lbs.
The containment was assembled and proved to be self-supporting.
Testing
Seals passing test by keeping smoke out
Panels during assembly
Seals passing water testing
Conclusion
The final containment box build passed all the tests performed to meet the given requirements. However, many lessons were learned along the way. Our team avoided misaligned expectations by sending meeting agendas before meetings, and summarized discussion notes. Another lesson learned included testing and prototyping early on in the design process.
In the future, our team recommends using different gaskets that are softer and thicker to maintain a more consistent seal. Another improvement would be installing a lighter swipe port subsystem to reduce the containment’s weight.