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

Nondestructive decontamination of radioactive electronic equipment by fluorinated surfactant solutions

Conference ·
OSTI ID:220965
;  [1];  [2]
  1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering
  2. Entropic Systems, Inc., Winchester, MA (United States)

The application of ESI`s enhanced particle removal process, initially developed for the cleaning of inertial guidance instrument parts, to the nondestructive decontamination of nuclear equipment is discussed. The cleaning medium used in this process is a solution of a high molecular weight fluorocarbon surfactant in an inert perfluorinated liquid which results in enhanced particle removal. The perfluorinated liquids of interest, which are recycled in the process, are non-toxic, nonflammable, generally safe to use, and do not present a hazard to the atmospheric ozone layer. An experimental cleaning system has been developed by ESI to demonstrate the application of this cleaning process to nuclear decontamination of electronic circuit boards. A high degree of decontamination is obtained and with no resulting physical damage to the circuits.

OSTI ID:
220965
Report Number(s):
CONF-950917--; ISBN 0-7918-1219-7
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English