Safety Improvements in Demolition and Removal Activities with Air-fed Suit for Plutonium Fuel Facility Decommissioning

Abstract

The air-fed suit is a type of personal protective equipment that provides purified air through a hose and protects a worker from radiation contamination and internal exposure. In the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the suit is used to protect a worker from radiation hazards during the size reduction and dismantlement of radioactive gloveboxes and equipment, which are contaminated particularly with plutonium. Although the suit has been widely adopted in similar activities, there still exist potential risks due to the limiting features of the suit itself and its supplemental system. In fact, we faced several unexpected events regarding such restricted aspects during dismantling activities. To address these failure potentials, we have implemented various countermeasures and improvements to enhance worker safety. Relevant examples include the exchange of the hose to one that is free from flattening while bending, the deployment of an air compressor to feed chilled air, and the installation of a monitoring system of the supplied air. We describe the disadvantages of the air-fed suit system and positive feedback regarding our implementations.