Pilot Scale Contamination and Decontamination of Urban Structure

The clean-up after a large, uncontrolled release of radioactive caesium (e.g. caesium-137) in an urban environment is an inherently complex process, as was the case with the Chernobyl and Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station accidents in 1986 and 2011, respectively. These incidents highlighted the lack of effective methods for performing wide area clean-up of an urban environment. It is expected that similar challenges would also be encountered following a radiological terrorism incident in a major city. In an effort to resolve these uncertainties, this project aims to better understand the pilot scale contamination and decontamination characteristics of caesium-137 on two urban structures, bitmac and concrete. These materials are ubiquitous in the built environment and would likely form a major source of contamination following a radiological terrorism incident. The work proposed in the project will help inform the selection of appropriate decontamination methodologies during incident recovery and will provide a framework for establishing remediation strategies in future policy development.

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