Experiments by the Mexican NNEC on the Control of Airborne Radioactive Contamination

The installations of the Mexican National Nuclear Energy Commission have to deal with the problem of environmental contamination caused by dust and aerosols suspended in the air and originating mainly with such uranium-bearing ores as tyuyamunite, carnotite, betafite, technical-grade sodium uranate, ammonium uranate concentrate, uranium tetrafluoride and uranium dioxide. To prevent environmental contamination by these radioactive materials, the Commission has experimented with three different systems, based on the principle of extracting the dust from the environment, passing it through a cyclone system, separating the particles of larger size and controlling the small particles or aerosols by means of filtration, dilution in liquid columns and dilution in liquid curtains. On the basis of the results obtained, plans have been made for supplementing the systems with an adsorption column and an ion exchange column, depending on the specific requirements of each laboratory. (author)