• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3293-3298
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• 2022

Removing radioactive contaminated metal materials is a vital task during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants to reduce the cost of the post-dismantling process. The laser decontamination technique has been recognized as a key tool for a successful dismantling process as it enables a remote operation in radioactive facilities. It also minimizes exposure of workers to hazardous materials and reduces secondary waste, increasing the environmental friendless of the post-dismantling processing. In this work, we present a thorough and efficient laser decontamination approach using a single-mode continuous-wave (CW) laser. We subjected stainless steels to a surface-removal process that repetitively exposes the laser to a confined region of ~75 ㎛ at a high scanning rate of 10 m/s. We evaluate the decontamination performance by measuring the removal depth with a 3D scanning microscope and further investigate optimal removal conditions given practical parameters such as the laser power and scan properties. We successfully removed the metal surface to a depth of more than 40 ㎛ with laser power of 300 W and ten scans, showing the potential to achieve an extremely high DF more than 1000 by simply increasing the number of scans and the laser power for the decontamination of primary circuits.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.289-295
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• 2021

A laser scabbling experiment was performed using a high-power fiber laser to investigate the removal rate of the concrete block and the scabbled depth. Concrete specimens with a 28-day compressive strength of 30 MPa were used in this study. Initially, we conducted the scabbling experiment under a stationary laser beam condition to determine the optimum scan speed. The laser interaction time with the concrete surface varied between 3 s and 40 s. The degree of spalling and vitrification on the surface was primarily dependent on the laser interaction time and beam power. Furthermore, thermal images were captured to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution of temperature during the scabbling process. Based on the experimental results, the scan speed at which the optical head moved over the concrete was set to be 300 mm·min^-1 or 600 mm·min^-1 for the 4.8-kW or 6.8-kW laser beam, respectively. The spalling rates and average depth on the concrete blocks were measured to be 87 cm³·min^-1 or 227 cm³·min^-1 and 6.9 mm or 9.8 mm with the 4.8-kW or 6.8-kW laser beams, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1988-1993
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• 2023

This experimental study investigated the effect of silica fume mixed in concrete blocks on laser-induced explosion behavior. We used a 5.3 kW fiber laser as a thermal source to induce explosive spalling on a concrete surface blended with and without silica fume. An analytical approach based on the difference in the removal rate and thermal behavior was used to determine the effect of silica fume on laser-induced explosive spalling. A scanner was employed to calculate the laser-scabbled volume of the concrete surface to derive the removal rate. The removal rate of the concrete mixed with silica fume was higher than that of without silica fume. Thermal images acquired during scabbling were used to qualitatively analyze the thermal response of laser-induced explosive spalling on the concrete surface. At the early stage of laser heating, an uneven spatial distribution of surface temperature appeared on the concrete blended with silica fume because of frequent explosive spalling within a small area. By contrast, the spalling frequency was relatively lower in laser-heated concrete without silica fume. Furthermore, we observed that a larger area was removed via a single explosive spalling event owing to its high porosity.