The U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear complex, a nation-wide system of facilities for research and production of nuclear materials and weapons, contains large amounts of radioactively contaminated concrete. This material must be disposed of prior to the decommissioning of the various sites. Often the radioactive contaminants in concrete occupy only the surface and near-surface ((approx.) 3-6 mm deep) regions of the material. Since many of the structures such as walls and floors are 30 cm or more thick, it makes environmental and economic sense to try to remove and store only the thin contaminated layer rather than to treat the entire structure as waste. Current mechanical removal methods, known as scabbling, are slow and labor intensive, suffer from dust control problems, and expose workers to radiation fields.
PDF
download
878987797
028-85220240
