Hands Off the Glovebox: An Electrochemical System for Semiautonomous Decontamination at Los Alamos

[Marlin]

Hands Off the Glovebox: An Electrochemical System for Semiautonomous Decontamination at Los Alamos

https://www.ans.org/news/article-8427/hands-offthe-glovebox-an-electrochemical-system-for-semiautonomous-decontamination-at-los-alamos/

[Core Content]

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory developed a semiautonomous platform called the Glovebox Decontamination System. The technology uses a closed-loop flow of a continuously regenerated cerium-based oxidant to remove radiological contamination from stainless steel surfaces without manual wiping.

This approach addresses worker safety and waste volume issues associated with traditional manual decontamination methods used across the nuclear enterprise. By electrochemically regenerating the active chemical agent, the system minimizes liquid waste generation and eliminates the need for operators to directly manipulate contaminated surfaces inside gloveboxes.

The radiological glovebox is among the most recognizable pieces of contaminated infrastructure in the nuclear enterprise, and among the most difficult for disposition. Every glovebox used in plutonium operations eventually reaches the end of its service life. It can be dispositioned in its contaminated state, but at considerable cost: disposal as...

A team at Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed a fundamentally different approach.* The Glovebox Decontamination System (GB-Decon) is the flagship module of the laboratory's Modular Electrochemical Nuclear Decontamination System (MENDS): a closed-loop, semiautonomous platform that draws a continuously regenerated cerium-based oxidant across contaminated glovebox surfaces under negative pressure, with no spraying, no wiping, and no open transfer of liquid. Preliminary results show...

Read the full article at ans.org:
https://www.ans.org/news/article-8427/hands-offthe-glovebox-an-electrochemical-system-for-semiautonomous-decontamination-at-los-alamos/