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 system for 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 system comprising: a non-reactive gas source adapted to supply a non-reactive gas to the system; means to cool a non-reactive gas to a temperature (TC) thereby drying the non-reactive gas; means to flow the dry non-reactive gas to the cavity, the flow means adapted to introduce the dry non-reactive gas to the cavity at a flow rate R for a period of time (t); and means to remove wet non-reactive gas from the cavity; wherein the non-reactive gas source, the cooling means, the flow means, the removal means, and the cavity are fluidly coupled; wherein TC and R are controlled to achieve a desired vapor pressure (vPD) in the cavity in time t.
