Transfer factor in air encountered when removing radioprotective clothing

In a spent fuel processing plant, minor interventions are relatively frequent. Work in contaminated environments is carried out with maximum guarantees of protection against contamination. Individual prevention against potential transfer of radioactive products to the skin or body of workers typically involves a series of suits, which are successively removed at the "flaps" separating the various zones. Despite the precautions taken, very low-level internal contaminations can occur and are detected during radiotoxicological analyses. These very low values detected are difficult to relate to measurements by atmospheric monitoring devices. Among other origins, the hypothesis has been made that these slight contaminations could arise from transfers to the atmosphere from contaminated clothing during their removal. This operation could cause very localized air contamination and introduce a risk of internal contamination through inhalation.