Atmospheric-Pressure Plasma Cleaning of Contaminated Surfaces

The purpose of this project was to demonstrate a practical, environmentally benigh technology for the surface decontamination and decommissioning of radioactive waste. A low temperature, atmospheric pressure plasma has been developed with initial support from the DOE, Environmental Management Sciences Program. This devise selectively etches radioactive metals from surfaces, rendering objects radiation free and suitable for decommissioning. The volatile reaction products are captured on filters, which yields a tremendous reduction in the volume of the waste. The technology shows a great potential for accelerating the clean-up effort for the equipment and structures contaminated with radioactive materials within the DOE complex. The viability of this technology has been demonstrated by selectively and rapidly stripping uranium from stainless steel surfaces at low temperature. Studies on uranium oxide have shown that etch rates of 4.0 microns per minute can be achieved at temperature below 473 K. Over the past three years, we have made numerous improvements in the design of the atmospheric pressure plasma source. We are now able to scale up the plasma source to treat large surface areas