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Airborne Recontamination of the TMI-2 (Three Mile Island Unit 2) Reactor Building

Conference · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society
OSTI ID:5619322

The dose reduction objectives for the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor building were to lower the dose rates in working areas so that the total collective dose to workers would be as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA). As part of these objectives, a large-scale effort was devoted to the decontamination of reactor building surfaces. The presence of very high removable surface contamination levels, sometimes in excess of 1.7 x 103 Bq/cm2 (4.5 to 2/μ/Ci/cm2), contributed to high airborne radioactivity conditions. The airborne conditions necessitated the extensive use of respiratory protection. It became an objective of the decontamination program, therefore, to reduce the removable contamination levels to such an extent that the use of respirators could be reduced or even eliminated. The progress of the decontamination program became hampered when it was discovered that large areas of the reactor building were becoming recontaminated. After a series of tests, it was determined that the air handling systems in the building were distributing radioactivity from highly contaminated surfaces. This paper describes the tests used to identify the causes of the recontamination, the methods used to reduce the airborne radioactivity in the reactor building, and the results of the preventative measures.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
OSTI ID:
5619322
Report Number(s):
CONF-881011-
Journal Information:
Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 57; ISSN TANSA; ISSN 0003-018X
Publisher:
American Nuclear Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210200 -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
42 ENGINEERING
ACCIDENTS
AEROSOLS
AIR SAMPLERS
ALARA
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA)
BORIC ACID
BUILDINGS
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CLEANING
CLOTHING
COLLOIDS
CONTAINMENT
CONTAINMENT BUILDINGS
CONTAMINATION
CRITICALITY
DECONTAMINATION
DEPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
DOSES
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EQUIPMENT
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
ISOTOPES
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
PARTICLE SIZE
POWER REACTORS
PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
PWR TYPE REACTORS
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
REACTOR ACCIDENTS
REACTORS
RESPIRATORS
SAMPLERS
SIZE
SOLS
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURFACE CLEANING
SURFACE COATING
SURFACE CONTAMINATION
SURFACE FINISHING
TESTING
THERMAL REACTORS
THREE MILE ISLAND-2 REACTOR
Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) Reactor Building
VENTILATION SYSTEMS
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS