Surface contaminants' incorporation after nanosecond laser ablation

Decontamination and cleaning of surface-contaminated radioactive waste using laser ablation is a promising new technique being researched. One advantage is the potential to recycle waste and reduce the demand for repository storage. However, prior studies have shown that residual radioactivity can persist after laser decontamination indicating the incorporation of contaminants beneath the surface of metal samples. In this study, a q-switched laser was used to measure the depth of the recast zone at various fluences and simulate a decontamination process using a gold-coated sample. The results showed that surface material was found in the recast zone for fluences ranging from 1 to 10 J/cm². This suggests that incorporation of surface contaminants after laser ablation is an important issue that must be considered before using this technique for radioactive waste treatment. (author)