Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Pollution prevention benefits of non-hazardous shielding glovebox gloves - 11000

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1046545

Radiation shielding is commonly used to protect the glovebox worker from unintentional direct and secondary radiation exposure, while working with plutonium-238 and plutonium-239. Shielding glovebox gloves are traditionally composed of lead-based materials, i.e., hazardous waste. This has prompted the development of new, non-hazardous shielding glovebox gloves. No studies, however, have investigated the pollution prevention benefits of these new glovebox gloves. We examined both leaded and non-hazardous shielding glovebox gloves. The nonhazardous substitutes are higher in cost, but this is offset by eliminating the costs associated with onsite waste handling of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) items. In the end, replacing lead with non-hazardous substitutes eliminates waste generation and future liability.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1046545
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-11-00211; LA-UR-11-211
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English