Re: UF6

["Spell, Bill" <bills@deq.state.la.us>]

And what do you do with the water, Doug?  Usually, one problem creates 
another.  I sure wish we regulators had better answers.

Bill Spell
bills@deq.state.la.us

 ----------
From: radsafe
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: UF6
Date: Friday, August 09, 1996 11:43PM

Mike,

The "heel" is from uranium daughter products that decay by gamma emmision.
The daughter products do not sublime from a solid into a gas as UF6, and
because the cylinders are recycled the "heel" continues to increase in
quantity until several hundreds of mrem contact doses are possible.
removing the cylinder bung and adding 2-3 gallons of water, replacing the
bung and rotating the cylinder and then dumping the water removes most of
the daughter products.  If this procedure is performed routinely each time
the cylinder is emptied, dose rates remain low.

Doug Turner Email turners@earthlink.net

At 02:49 PM 8/4/96 -0500, you wrote:
>I am editing a course on uranium safety.  The draft includes a statement
>about UF6 that I would like to clarify.  I hope some Radsafers can help.
>
>The draft says "Uranium can create widespread low-level gamma radiation
>fields less than 5 mrem/hr.  ... Larger sources of gamma radiation may 
exist
>from specific processes, including unflushed UF6 cylinders [in which case]
>gamma radiation from residual materials can result in radiation fields of
>several hundred mrem/hr.  This problem can be controlled by flushing empty
>cylinders to remove residual material."
>
>I assume the sentence means that "residual materials" other than UF6 cause
>the "several hundred mrem/hr". If it is UF6 emitting the gammas, I am
>puzzled how gammas from UF6 could be greater than from other forms of U.
>
>I would be grateful for any clarification.  Thanks, mike
>
>
>