Speaker
Description
Operation of the nuclear power plant is accompanied by the radioactive contamination of internal and external surfaces of equipment. Usually, the main part of surface contamination of the equipment's nuclear power plant is due to activated corrosion products. Decontamination of removable equipment can be done in various ways, depending on its size and design features. Electrochemical decontamination method is used to remove firmly fixed radioactive contamination, when the application of other methods is inefficient or technically difficult. Recently, there is considerable interest in electrolyte-plasma treatment (EPT) [1], as a kind of electrochemical method. Electrolyte-plasma method is an environmentally safe way of high-quality surface treatment of products, because solutions of neutral salts are used as electrolyte. The application of the electrolytic-plasma treatment method for the decontamination of removable structural equipment was not considered in the world practice before.
Objective: To investigate the possibility of using the electrolytic-plasma treatment method for decontamination of the removable equipment of nuclear power plants.
In the study, parts from steel AISI 321 were subjected to electrolytic-plasma treatment. Preparation and radioactive contamination of parts was carried out in accordance with GOST 50773. 6% aqueous solution of ammonium sulfate (grade of p.a.) was used as an electrolyte. The processing time was 4 minutes. The cycle "contamination-decontamination" is carried out 3 times. Measurement of radioactive contamination were performed using γ- and β-analyzer MKS-AT-1315.
From the analysis of the data obtained it can be concluded that the use of EPT is effective for the decontamination of parts and equipment as simple geometric shapes and complex. Decontamination is carried out in a short period of time.
