21
Electrodecontamination
for Mitigation of Airborne Contamination--ADA
Technologies, Inc., 8100 Shaffer Parkway, Suite 130, Littleton, CO
80127-4107; 303-792-5615, www.adatech.com
Mr.
Bradley D. Veatch, Principal Investigator,
Mr.
Clifton H. Brown, Jr., Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83591
Amount:
$749,999
Radioactively contaminated surfaces within Department of Energy and
commercial nuclear facilities endanger workers and create problems with waste
handling and disposal. Current
methods for removing these radiological contaminants are expensive, use
hazardous chemicals or dangerous rotating machinery, release removed materials
into the airspace surrounding the jobsite, and generate considerable secondary
waste. This project will develop an
electrodecontamination process that
overcomes these deficiencies with the removal of radioactive contamination. The
process combines the best attributes of electropolishing and strippable coatings
into a safe, cost-effective technology that can rapidly remove both fixed and
smearable radioactive contaminants from stainless steel and other conductive
substrates. The system maintains
full control of materials as they are stripped, can be deployed within minutes,
and results in a waste form already familiar to DOE’s existing infrastructure
– radioactive “hot” plastic. Phase
I developed a safe and cost effective system that uses proprietary gel chemistry
and a special power waveform to remove radioactive contamination from stainless
steel through surface stripping electrochemical reactions.
Independent laboratory tests demonstrated the system’s ability to
remove up to 96% of fixed and 99% of smearable radioactive contaminates from
stainless steel without generating airborne hazard.
In Phase II, independent certifications of electrical safety, nuclear
safeguards compliance, and non-combustibility of the cured gel will be obtained.
Extensive field validations will be carried out at three or more nuclear
facilities within the DOE and the power industry. A
configuration-controlled engineering package will be created in anticipation of
manufacturing a commercial product in Phase III.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits as
described by awardee: The
electro-decontamination technology
should have application in the steel fabrication and construction sectors, as
well as the autobody repair industry. In
addition, the gel has anti-microbial properties, suggesting possible medical
applications, such as the control of tuberculosis or other highly infectious
diseases within surgical suites and medical facilities, or spray-on surgical
masking and wound dressings for burn treatment.