CLEARANCE OF MATERIALS ARISING FROM DEMOL ITION

The problems associated with clearance measurements of alpha-contamina ted materials arising in the demolition of nuclear fuel cycle faciliti es can be solved, thanks to the high standard of analytical measuremen t technology. It is of paramount importance, in this connection, to mi nimize the expense in terms of personnel and time by selecting the mos t appropriate analytical techniques without neglecting the justified i nterests of radiation protection. As comprehensive analyses for specif ic nuclides, complete with digestion and radiochemical preparation in a laboratory, may take several weeks, attempts should be made to condu ct as many clearance measurements as possible by total alpha or-total gamma counts of the bulk rubbish On the spot. This can be achieved bes t by careful preplanning of the demolition project, in which the deter mination of the nuclide vectors in various plant areas plays a decisiv e role. The expense incurred at this stage should make it possible Int er, on the basis of valid correlations, to conduct total alpha and gam ma, measurements of the largest possible rubbish volumes and, in this way, do with as few check measurements as possible.