Flushing is very effective for removing loose contamination or fallout.
Water is effective for flushing away radiological contamination.
Rainout
can coat surfaces with a film that resists flushing.
The road film on a
dirty vehicle cannot be rinsed off without first being scrubbed. Film left
by rainout must also be scrubbed. Any contamination removed by flushing and
scrubbing will remain radioactive, so runoff must be controlled.
Covering contamination does not destroy it, but temporarily keeps the hazard
away from you. Radiological contamination must be covered by thick layers
of dense material, such as earth.
Eight centimeters (3 inches) of earth
will reduce radiation dose rates by one-half.
Thirty centimeters (12
inches) is much more effective.
Earth-moving equipment makes the job
easier, but the equipment and operators will have to be decontaminated.
Clear passageways by removing contaminated layers covering terrain. Fallout
does not penetrate the top layer of soil unless it is followed by rain. It
can be scraped aside.
Move contaminated soil as far away as possible
because the piles tend to concentrate radiation.
Induced radiation may
penetrate the terrain as much as 1 1/2 meters.
It is impractical to
decontaminate this much earth in most cases.
The equipment used in
decontamination operations will become contaminated and normally will be
decontaminated at the completion of the operation. See Appendix C.
6-13
CM5206
Previous Page
