Decontamination by means of high pressure water

It has been found that high pressure water can be used to cleanse metal surfaces from radioactive contaminants, which in nuclear power plants, consist mainly of activated corrosion products, i.e. isotopes Co-60, Ag-110m, Mn-54, Sb-125 etc. These have, relatively speaking, a long life and show a high γ-energy. Tests using this method on reactor probes are described and results, which are expressed in the form of a graph: water pressure (bar) vs. residue radioactivity, were very encouraging. Future work will be aimed at optimizing the nozzle design for range and spread of jet. (G.R.S.)