ÒõAPPµ¼º½

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is developing used fuel container (UFC) designs for long term containment and isolation of used Candu nuclear fuel in a deep geological repository. One of the UFC designs consists of a steel vessel with a copper corrosion barrier on the outside surface. In this project, Novika Solutions has successfully applied hybrid laser/ GMAW (HLAW) technology for fabricating a single-pass 10-mm-deep partial penetration weld. Under a staged approach, from flat test plates to full sized mock-ups and prototype vessels, the welding process was developed and documented to assess its relevance for the closure weld of the steel vessels. Process tolerance window, weld quality consistency and gap allowance are amongst the parameters evaluated throughout this project. Following completion of the closure weld, the application of the copper corrosion barrier has to be completed in this zone. As a secondary objective of this project, Novika Solutions investigated laser-clad copper wire and GMAW copper weld overlay as methods of copper deposition over the closure weld.