Economics of reusable crucibles

A high expense item in the operation of the button line has been the RS-6 crucible which can be used only once. The 234-5 Research and Development Laboratory has done some preliminary development on a reusable crucible. Before continuing their program, they have requested that an economic study be made to determine what potential savings could be realized if RS-6 were replaced with a reusable crucible. For the purpose of this study, the costs involved were broken down into three areas: Button line costs, Recuplex costs, and Conversion costs. Button line costs include initial crucible costs, operational handling and radiation factors, and other material savings. Recuplex costs cover the effect the elimination of crucible fragments would have on the recovery operation. Conversion cost is an estimate of the expense required to convert the present button line to use a reusable crucible. The results of the study are very favorable and the total possible savings appear to be high enough to write off the cost of conversion of the button line to use the reusable crucible in one year. To write the conversion off in one year, the purchase cost per firing of the crucible must be equal to or less than $20. The reason that this figure is higher than might be expected is due to the many additional costs connected with the RS-6 crucible that the reusable crucible would eliminate.