Re:: Re[2]: Van de Graaff decon

[baumbaug@nosc.mil (Joel T. Baumbaugh)]

Question:

Is  a  chelating agent really helpful when deconning tritium,  or
would  plain  old  detergent do just as well?  You  National  Lab
tritium folks can jump in here.

James J. Thompson, Ph.D.

________________________________________________________________

An Answer:

     James,

     While  I am not (by any means) an expert on decontamination,
I  have cleaned up more than my share of spills as a H.P.   IMHO,
the  decision chain for using a chelating agent (or any  cleaning
"agent")  for any radioisotope depends both on the  radioisotope,
its  chemical  form, and the surface on which it rests.   I  have
"easily"  cleaned up tritium on many surfaces simply using  ivory
liquid  and  water.  Conversely, I have been unable to  clean  up
tritium  on  other  (especially porus) surfaces (I  keep  getting
positive  results on wipes) no matter what I tried (and I tried a
LOT   of  things  including  abrasives  [I've  never  tried  high
temperatures]).   The  reason I use Ivory soap (no I  don't  have
stock  in  the  company)  is  that  it  doesn't  have  any  weird
"emulsifiers"/"brighteners"       which      show      up      as
chemiluminescence/photoluminescence  on  my liquid  scintillation
counter results.

     Hope this helps,


     Joel T. Baumbaugh (baumbaug@nosc.mil)
     Naval Research and Development (NRaD)
     San Diego, CA