Large area decontamination after a radiological incident.

Effective decontamination of large-scale areas such as roads and parking lots after an accidental or intentional radiological incident is important in order to contain the spread of contamination and avoid the need for long-term evacuation of urban areas. As a simulation, large coupons (surface area 3600 cm) made of concrete patio stone and aged asphalt (from a parking lot) were contaminated with either Co or Cs solutions and then decontaminated. The decontamination process consisted of a six-component water-based chemical formulation applied using a common house-hold carpet cleaner.

Decontamination of select infrastructure materials after a radiological incident using a water-based formulation.

This paper summarizes the results of the decontamination of the infrastructure materials concrete, limestone, brick and asphalt contaminated with Co, Sr, Cs and Am. The paper focuses on the effect of differences in substrate properties and of the pH of the radionuclide solution used for surface contamination on adsorption or ion exchange of the radionuclides and how these factors affect the decontamination effectiveness. A six-component chemical formulation was used and a process effectiveness of up to 76% was obtained depending on the substrate and radionuclide.