Decontamination by ultraviolet laser: The Lexdin prototype

Decontaminating nuclear facilities to very low residual levels while protecting the personnel and generating little or no liquid waste remains a difficult objective to achieve. From this standpoint, the ultraviolet laser could constitute a highly effective decontamination tool. A number of laboratory studies have focused on the possibilities of surface treatments by laser but few of them have produced working prototype robots suitable for the heavy decontamination involved in decommissioning nuclear installation. LEXDIN is the anagram of Exciplex laser decontamination in the nuclear industry, and is a prototype intended for the decontamination of plastic or metal tanks and chambers used in the nuclear industry. First rate work is 1 square metre per hour for a metal erosion depth of 10 nanometers. (authors)