Re[4]: Van de Graaff decon

[michael_coogen@ccgw1.hq.dla.mil]

     I agree...good old soap and water...


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re:: Re[2]: Van de Graaff decon
Author:  radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu at ~GW1
Date:    2/26/96 9:55 AM


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