Any process that removes or reduces contamination: wiping and washing tools, scrubbing floors, strippable coatings, abrasive blasting, chemical cleaning of whole systems before major work, and gentle washing of skin. Personnel decontamination avoids abrading skin, which would let material in. Decon is weighed against the dose and waste it creates, since some items are cheaper to dispose of as radwaste than to clean.
Send the impact guns to decon, they'll be back in the hot tool crib by tomorrow.
Also heard as
- decon
- decontam
Related terms
Contamination
Radioactive material in a place it is not wanted, such as on surfaces, skin, clothing or inside the body.
Removable contamination
Radioactive contamination that can be transferred by wiping or touching, as opposed to fixed contamination.
Radwaste
Radioactive waste produced by nuclear facilities, and the plant department that processes and ships it.
Hot tool crib
A tool room inside the controlled area that stores and issues contaminated tools for reuse on radiological jobs.