Abstract
The present work is an attempt to develop a laser cutting method for cutting and removing stainless steel liners from concrete walls and floors in nuclear facilities. The effect of basic laser cutting parameters such as energy, cutting speed, assist gas flow etc. were first studied through cutting experiments on mock-up concrete specimens lined with 3mm thick stainless steel sheets using a 1kW Nd:YAG laser. These initial studies were followed by further studies on the effect of unevenness of the liner surface and on a new method of confining contamination during the cutting process using a sliding evacuation hood attached to the laser cutting head. The results showed that laser cutting is superior to other conventional cutting methods from the point of view of safety from radioactivity and work efficiency when cutting contaminated stainless steel liners.
