Abstract
The nuclear industry produces a wide range of radioactive waste in term of level of hazard, contaminants and material. For metallic equipment like steam generators, the radioactivity is mainly located in the oxide surface. In order to study and develop techniques for dismantling and for decontamination in a safe way, it is important to have access to oxide layers with a representative distribution of non-radioactive contaminants. We propose a method of formation of oxide layer on stainless steel 304L with europium (Eu) as contaminant marker. In this method, an Eu-solution is sprayed on the stainless steel samples. The specimen are firstly treated with a pulsed nanosecond laser and secondly the steel samples are exposed to a 600°C furnace for various durations in order to grow an oxide layer. The oxide structure and in-depth distribution of Eu in the oxide layer are analysed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray microanalyzer, and by glow discharge optical emission or mass spectrometry. The oxide layers were grown to thicknesses in the range of 200 nm to 4.5 μm regarding to the laser treatment parameters and the heating duration. These contaminated oxides have a ‘duplex structure’ with a mean weight percentage of 0.5% of europium in the volume of the oxide layer. It appears that europium implementation prevents the oxide growth by furnace but has no impact on laser heating. These oxide layers are used to study the decontamination of metallic surfaces such as stainless steel 304L using a nanosecond pulsed laser.
Highlights
In nuclear industry, the dismantling is a major issue
We present the recent results of the growth of micrometric oxide layer contaminated with nonradioactive element and the preliminary test of laser cleaning
Our goal was to manage different way of Euimplementation in oxide layer of 304L SS samples in order to carry out studies with non-radioactive contaminants and conventional equipment
Summary
The dismantling is a major issue. The cleaning of contaminated surfaces is currently based on chemical and mechanical processes. These techniques usually generate secondary wastes and contaminated effluents which need long term storage and dismantling workers are exposed to occasional radiation. In this context, the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) has developed a prototype for surfaces cleaning called Aspilaser and studied the cleaning of contaminated surfaces such as painted concrete [1,2] and stainless steel [3,4] by excimer or fiber lasers. In regard to metallic components such as pipe systems, the radionuclides are usually in the oxide layer which grows during the operations of the nuclear facility
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