Decontamination of Radionuclides from Concrete During and After Thermal Treatment

The objective was to clarify from the theoretical viewpoint the mechanical, diffusional, thermodynamic and electromagnetic aspects of the decontaminations problem, by means of developing a powerful computational model to evaluate the effect of a very rapid heating regime on the on the contaminated concrete walls or slabs. The practical objective was to assess the feasibility of the microwave heating scheme envisaged and determine its suitable parameters such as power and duration. This objective was complementary to, but separate from, the chemical and nuclear aspects of long-time processes that led to the contamination and various conceivable alternative methods of decontamination which were investigated by Dr. Brian Spalding of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, with whom the start-up phase of this project was coordinated