12.9 Decontamination of Apparatus
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Fig. 12.1 A schematic layout of a typical radiochemical training/research laboratory
12.9 Decontamination of Apparatus
In a chemical laboratory, cleaning is done at the microlevel of contamination. In the
radiochemical laboratory, the cleaning of the apparatus has to be done at the atomic
level of radiation so that the level of activity present in the apparatus after cleaning
is very near the background count. For radiochemical work, one may be able to
tolerate chemical contamination but contamination with radioactive isotope cannot
be tolerated at all. If the level of activity due to contamination of radioactive isotopes is
higher than the background count, the experiment for which the apparatus is to be used
will give erroneous results. Therefore, the decontamination of the apparatus is very
important. Even a trace of radioactive material present in the apparatus (especially if
it is of high specific activity i.e., activity per unit of amount) may be sufficient to ruin
the result completely. The decontamination of apparatus in most cases is easy, but
with isotopes like bromine, which sticks on to the glass very firmly, decontamination
becomes a problem.