Use of citric acid for large parts decontamination

Laboratory and field studies have been performed to identify and evaluate chemical decontamination agents to replace ammonium carbonate, an environmentally unacceptable compound, in the decontamination facility for large process equipment at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Preliminary screening of over 40 possible decontamination agents on the basis of efficiency, availability, toxicity, cost, corrosiveness, and practicality indicated sodium carbonate and citric acid to be the most promising. Extensive laboratory studies were performed with these two reagents. Corrosion rates, decontamination factors, uranium recovery efficiencies, technetium (99Tc)/ion exchange removal effects, and possible environmental impacts were determined or investigated. Favorable results were found in all areas. Detailed monitoring and analysis during two-week trial periods in which sodium carbonate and citric acid were used in the large parts decontamination facility resulted in similar evaluation and conclusions. Because it has cleaning properties not possessed by sodium carbonate, and because it eliminated several operational problems by incorporating two acidic decontamination reagents (citric and nitric acids) instead of one basic reagent (sodium or ammonium carbonate) and one acidic reagent (nitric acid), citric acid was selected for one-year field testing. On the basis of its excellent performance in the field tests, citric acid is recommended as a permanent replacement for ammonium carbonate in the decontamination facility for large process equipment