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Laser decontamination of surface impregnated with radioactive material

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Abstract

Pulsed lasers can evaporate (ablate) metals and polymers, carrying away radioactive contaminants. Several studies found in the literature lack information or cannot be compared due to the different methodologies, thus the current study aimed to test a wide range of samples using the same method. A Nd:YAG nanosecond laser operating at 1064 nm was used to process four different types of polymers and six metals, using fluences ranging from 1 to 10 J/cm2. Samples were contaminated with an acid solution containing 137Cs. Weighting the effectiveness and yield, 5 J/cm2 was shown to be the most viable irradiation condition.

Article highlights

Due to the absence of byproducts laser ablation is an interesting approach to decontaminate waste with radioactive material on the surface;

Decontamination of 137Cs was achieved in 6 different metals and 4 different polymers applying 3 fluences: 1, 5 and 10 J/cm2 using a Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm 5ns pulse duration);

We proposed an exponential decay model to represent the decontamination process as a function of the number of irradiations;

Decontamination in low and high fluences cannot achieve optimal results; Overall, 5 J/cm2 delivered good results, surpassing that of 10 J/cm2 in some tests.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the fellowship awarded by the Brazilian National Nuclear Energy Commission to P. Costa, and the support given by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq, grants 422484/2016-4, INFO 465763/2014-6 and also from Sisfoton (CNPq 440228/2021-2). We thank the support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, IPEN-CNEN/SP, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 2242, Cidade Universitária, CEP 05508-000, São Paulo, SP, Brasil

    Priscila Costa, Roberto Vicente, Frederico Antônio Genezini, Wagner de Rossi & Marcus Paulo Raele

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  1. Priscila Costa
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  2. Roberto Vicente
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  3. Frederico Antônio Genezini
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  4. Wagner de Rossi
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  5. Marcus Paulo Raele
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Correspondence to Marcus Paulo Raele.

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Costa, P., Vicente, R., Genezini, F.A. et al. Laser decontamination of surface impregnated with radioactive material. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 331, 4553–4561 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08525-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08525-5

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