New decontamination techniques for exposure reduction. [Electropolishing, vibratory finishing, and liquid honing]

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:6062650

Arrowsmith, H W; Allen, R P

This paper summarized work sponsored by the US Department of Energy to develop electropolishing, vibratory finishing, and liquid honing techniques into an integrated decontamination system capable of processing the large volumes of metallic waste that will be generated by the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. There are significant differences in the minimum contamination level that can be attained with each technique. Electropolishing is the only method that can consistently reduce surface contamination levels to background. As a general comparison, decontamination factors > 100,000 are reasonable for electropolishing, > 2000 for liquid honing, and > 200 for vibratory finishing. Another important difference in the three decontamination techniques is the relative ease of maintaining a low background contamination level in the decontamination system. The unique properties of the phosphoric acid electrolyte facilitate containment of the contamination removed by the electropolishing process. Similarly, the contamination removed by vibratory finishing is continuously washed out of the vibrating bed and collected in the sludge tank. In the case of the liquid honer, however, the blast system tends to disperse the contamination. Thus, although the liquid honer is very useful for the rapid decontamination of small parts, it would require a well-engineered containment system and a high degree of operator care for routine, high-volume decontamination application.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6062650
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-7279; CONF-781109-31; ON: DE83014874
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
400702 -- Radiochemistry & Nuclear Chemistry-- Properties of Radioactive Materials
CLEANING
DECONTAMINATION
ELECTROLYSIS
ELECTROPOLISHING
HONING
LYSIS
MACHINING
MANAGEMENT
MECHANICAL VIBRATIONS
POLISHING
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
SURFACE CLEANING
SURFACE FINISHING
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING