Waste Volume Reduction Using surface Characterization and Decontamination Laser Ablation

The Department of Energy's nuclear complex contains a significant amount of contaminated concrete containing radionuclides only in the near-surface region, typically a few millimeters deep. DOE will realize significant savings in decontamination costs and waste volume if the contaminated surface is removed from the clean bulk. Laser ablation is attractive because it adds no additional waste, offers fine control over the amount of material removed, can work on cracked, curved or irregular surfaces, can potentially be instrumented for real-time analysis, and can be used on virtually any material surface. The objectives of this research are to determine the mechanism and efficacy of laser ablation in removing contaminated surface layers, to understand the chemistry of contaminated concrete surfaces, and to chemically and physically characterize the captured ablation effluent which would become the stored waste. While the focus of this project is on concrete, the technology should be applicable to any surface requiring removal