Patent attributes
The present invention provides a method and system for ensuring that cavities used to store radioactive elements are adequately dried without intrusive measuring. In one aspect the invention is a method of drying a cavity loaded with radioactive elements, the loaded cavity having a free volume (VF), a starting vapor pressure (vPS), and a cavity pressure (PC), the method comprising: determining a desired degree of dryness in the cavity in terms of a desired vapor pressure (vPD); cooling a non-reactive gas to a temperature (TC) thereby drying the non-reactive gas; introducing the dry non-reactive gas into the cavity so that the free volume VF of the cavity turns over X times; and removing wet non-reactive gas from the cavity; wherein TC and X are controlled to achieve the desired vapor pressure (vPD) in the cavity. Alternatively, a flow rate (R) can be controlled over time (t) instead of controlling X.
