Particle Size of Aerosols Produced in Different Operations on Plutonium Solutions

The transfer of a plutonium solution from one container to another gives rise to risks of aerosol production if a drop of the solution falls from a certain height on to a hard surface, and when the film of solution remaining on uncovered surfaces evaporates. A systematic study of these phenomena was undertaken to determine the rate of production of aerosols, their size and the efficiency of industrial filters. Using solutions of different concentrations, the authors performed transfers, dropping experiments and evaporations. The first results on particle size and filter efficiency were obtained by autoradiography on nuclear plates. They show that the aerosols are very small and that in this case the penetration rate for some filters is relatively high. (author)