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Portable, Multi-Contaminant Detection Instrument for Research and Development--ADA Technologies, Inc., 8100 Shaffer Parkway, Suite 130, Littleton, CO  80127-4107; 303-792-5615

Mr. Patrick D. French, Principal Investigator

Dr. Martin J. Mastroianni, Business Official

DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-00ER82933

Amount:  $99,980

 

At Department of Energy sites (especially closure sites such as the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site), hundreds of structures comprising millions of square feet must be demolished and removed.  The cost, schedule, Environmental Safety and Health (ES&H), and health physics aspects of the Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) activities are all driven by the extent to which the facility is contaminated with radionuclides, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) heavy metals, and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) organics.  ADA Technologies proposes to develop a qualitative analysis device that can be maneuvered into difficult-to-access locations to determine the nature and levels of contamination prior to actual D&D activities.  As envisioned, this device will enable environmental experts to match the ES&H/Health Physics approach to D&D with the actual need for the space being treated.  ADA will design, fabricate, and test a sample probe suitable for D&D work to demonstrate that the necessary elements for this system can be integrated into a sufficiently small package.  ADA will make instrument detection limit determinations for each of the key elements including candidate metals (Cr, Be, Pb, Sb, Ba, Cd, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, V, and Zn), and the non-radioactive surrogates of the typical radionuclides of interest (Co, Cs, U, Tc, Sr, Am).  The samples will be placed on substrates likely to be encountered in D&D applications (e.g., stainless steel, wood, drywall) with the expected interferents (e.g., machine oils, grease).

 

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:  The proposed instrument will find wide application in D&D at DOE and DoD sites.  The instrument will also have similar applications in civilian sector industries.