Laser Decontamination & Dismantling for Nuclear Facilities

Massive radioactive metallic waste is generated during the operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, most of which only carries surface contamination. Combined with robotic arms, laser cleaning realizes man-machine isolation. It delivers precise cleaning on complex components and cuts down nuclear radiation risks for operators simultaneously.

02 Laser Dismantling of Nuclear Facilities

fter nuclear facilities are decommissioned, their radioactive structures need to be cut into units that meet strict size and weight standards. These units can then be loaded into dedicated containers and safely transported to final disposal repositories. Equipped with long-distance non-contact thick-plate cutting, radiation-resistant stable design, multi-material compatibility and fully automatic linkage technology, laser cleaning enables safe, efficient and precise dismantling of complex tank structures in nuclear decommissioning projects.

Detailed Introduction

Nuclear Facility Decontamination

Large quantities of radioactive metallic waste are generated during the operation and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, most of which are surface-contaminated. Currently, the globally recognized mainstream disposal method is deep geological disposal: used components are treated as waste and permanently buried 500-1000 meters underground inside special repositories with stable geological structures. This method not only incurs extremely high costs but also brings risks of secondary pollution and severe resource waste.

Advantages of Laser Cleaning

Precise stripping of radioactive contamination & resource recycling: Lasers efficiently remove radionuclide contaminants for recovery and reprocessing, converting "radioactive waste" into recyclable reusable resources.
Fundamentally reduce the burden and cost of deep geological disposal: It replaces deep geological disposal, eases capacity pressure on national deep geological repositories and cuts long-term disposal expenses.
Precise adaptation to complex structures & drastically lower nuclear radiation hazards: Laser cleaning can be integrated with robotic arms to realize man-machine isolation. It delivers precise cleaning on complex workpieces while minimizing nuclear radiation exposure risks to operators.

This equipment performs laser ablation decontamination on retired nuclear facility parts. It effectively eliminates radionuclide-contaminated grease, oxide films and rust for centralized recovery treatment, meeting non-radioactive release standards.

Laser Dismantling of Nuclear Facilities

After nuclear facility decommissioning, radioactive structures must be cut into units with strictly compliant sizes and weights. These units are loaded into special containers and safely transported to final disposal repositories, achieving accurate waste classification, elimination of nuclear hazards and release of site resources.

Traditional dismantling technologies (mechanical cutting, blasting, water jet cutting, plasma cutting) have inherent drawbacks in radioactive environments: mass secondary waste generation, high personnel irradiation risks, and poor adaptability to complex structures.

Advantages of Laser Cutting:

Non-contact & Intelligent: Remote operation is available to lower personnel radiation exposure risks;
Adaptable to complex working conditions: Handles multi-material composite structures and features unique compatibility with irregular geometric parts;
High Precision & Controllable: Millimeter-level precise cutting; the heat-affected zone is controlled within 1-2 mm.

Complete internal-to-external dismantling of tank-type facilities, including: outer shell, shielding cooling water tank, bottom water tank & sand tank, horizontal test channels, thermal column outer casing, heavy concrete shielding layers and embedded pipelines.