Decontamination of steel pipe waste by honing

The most part of the surface contaminated metallic waste is steel pipes. The steel pipe interior is contaminated by the crud. The method applied in the present work was mechanical decontamination by honing, rotating a hone (a kind of whetstone) in the pipe to remove the contaminated surface. Features of this honing decontamination method are as follows: metallic waste contamination levels can be reduced to below the background level, this method can be easily applied to a long pipe using an arm extension attachment, waste generated by this method is less than that in the chemical decontamination method using acid and is easily treated. This paper discribes the results of steel pipe decontamination test by honing and the honing decontamination equipment concept