Replacement of lead-loaded glovebox glove with attenuation medium that are not RCRA-hazardous metals

Conference · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2010

OSTI ID:1020959

Cournoyer, Michael E ^[1]; George, Gerald L ^[1]; Dodge, Robert L ^[1]; Chunglo, Steve ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Laboratory
2. CANBERRA INDUSTRIES

Programmatic operations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility (TA-55) involve working with various amounts of plutonium and other highly toxic, alpha-emitting materials. The spread of radiological contamination on surfaces, airborne contamination, and excursions of contaminants into the operator's breathing zone are prevented through the use of a variety of gloveboxes (the glovebox, coupled with an adequate negative pressure gradient, provides primary confinement). 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. In these environments, low-energy photons, i.e., those less than 250 keY, are encountered. Shielding glove box gloves are traditionally composed of lead-based materials, but these are now considered hazardous waste. This has prompted the development of new, nonhazardous- shielding gJovebox gloves. No studies, however, have investigated the effectiveness of these new glovebox gloves. We examined both leaded and nonhazardous- shielding glovebox gloves and compared their attenuation effectiveness over the energy range of interest at TA-55. All measurements are referenced to lead sheets, allowing direct comparisons to the common industry standard of 0.1 mm lead equivalent material. The attenuation properties of both types of glovebox gloves vary with energy, making it difficult for manufacturers to claim lead equivalency across the entire energy range used at TA-55. The positions of materials' photon energy absorption edges, which are particularly important to improved attenuation performance, depending upon the choice of radiation energy range, are discussed. This effort contributes to the Los Alamos National Laboratory Continuous Improvement Program by improving the efficiency, cost effectiveness, and formality of glovebox operations.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC52-06NA25396
• OSTI ID: 1020959
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-10-04126; LA-UR-10-4126; TRN: US201116%%637
• Resource Relation: Conference: 17th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference ; October 24, 2010 ; Cancun mexico
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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ATTENUATION
CONFINEMENT
CONTAMINATION
COST
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY ABSORPTION
ENERGY RANGE
GLOVEBOXES
GLOVES
LANL
LEAD
MEETINGS
METALS
PERFORMANCE
PERSONNEL
PHOTONS
PLUTONIUM
PLUTONIUM 238
PLUTONIUM 239
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
RADIATIONS
RESPIRATION
SHIELDING
SURFACES
NESDPS Office of Nuclear Energy Space and Defense Power Systems