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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
Aamir Husain
Nuclear Technology | Volume 85 | Number 1 | April 1989 | Pages 66-73
Technical Paper | Chemical Processing | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34228
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A regenerative process involving the use of a dilute solution of nitric (0.5 to 1.0 wt%) and hydrofluoric (0.05 wt%) acids was developed for decontaminating stainless steels (Type 304) to release limits. The solution is regenerated using a strong acid cation exchanger and may eventually be disposed of after processing through a strong base anion exchanger. The waste management aspect of the decontamination is thus limited to the disposal of relatively small volumes of spent cation and anion exchange resins. Application of the acidic reagent for 1 hat 95°C to the tray surfaces of an obsolete irradiated fuel storage basket from Pickering Nuclear Generating Station resulted in the removal of metal exceeding 1 µm and a residual (β,γ) contamination below a target limit of 0.1 µCi/m2. A soak tank system with associated purification, vapor handling, and auxiliary systems is proposed for performing full-scale decontaminations of the baskets.