Saturday, January 06, 2007
Wrap radiation in rubber
The radioactive contamination found around Europe when a Russian was poisoned with polonium has set people thinking ? how would decontamination be achieved after a dirty bomb attack? It turns out that the US government has already licensed patents on easy-to-use hardware that does the trick.
A hand-held device like a paint roller has an abrasive foam pad soaked in a mix of latex gel and conductive iodine solution. The pad is rubbed over the contaminated area to loosen any surface material and apply latex, while several volts at high current are passed through.
An electrolytic reaction, like charging a battery, strips contaminant off the surface and into the gel, where it is trapped. The current also polymerises the gel, turning it into a strong rubbery skin. This is peeled off ? together with the trapped contaminant ? and sealed in a safe storage location.
Tests by the inventors, based in Colorado, showed that using a dozen volts and 1 amp per square centimetre for 30 seconds strips even a creviced surface clean. The gel takes a couple of hours to harden ? conveniently turning from iodine magenta to mustard yellow, the warning colour for nuclear hazards.
Read the full decontamination patent