Tritium

[<L666783@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM>]

Greetings all. I've got a couple of questions regarding tritium.

1. Do any of you have any references on the permeability of gloves to
tritium? Currently contaminated parts are handled with standard latex
surgical gloves, and I want to know if they are doing any good. We're
using them for ALARA reasons because the parts are not THAT
contaminated. But the gloves become radwaste, and if they're not
protecting the employees, eliminating them could reduce the waste
stream, or we could switch to gloves that do protect.

2. If an object has been exposed to an atmosphere that contains elevated
concentrations of tritium for an extended period of time (years) it
becomes contaminated. Can it be decontaminated, or does the tritium
permiate the stainless steel, rubber, aluminum, etc. such that even
after extensive cleaning, tritium is still detectable? Will putting the
part through thermalvac cycles drive it off?

These questions are primarily prompted by the shipping requirements for
tritium contaminated parts. Our current interpretation is that if _any_
removable tritium is detectable, the part must be tracked and shipped as
as excepted package, limited quantity, because of the definition of
radioactive material in 49 CFR 173.403(y). We were told that the amount
of radioactive material on/in a part could not be averaged over the
weight of the object, and since tritium has a greater specific activity
than 2 nCi/gm, any removable requires the LQ designation. That's kind of
ironic, since if a part has 500 dpm/100cm2 removable tritium, it's
shipped as radioactive, but a shipping box with 2200 dpm/100cm2 is "clean"!

Any info, comments, debate would be appreciated.

Please contact me directly. Thanks in advance.

Donald P. Mercado, O/47-20, B/106      PROFS Nickname: DMERCADO
Radiation Safety Officer        Internet: Don@LMSC.Lockheed.com
Lockheed Missiles & Space Co., Inc.         Tel. (408) 742-0759
Sunnyvale, Ca 94089                         Fax. (408) 742-0611