Contamination of Aluminum and Painted Surfaces Exposed to Tritium

To study the problem of outgassing of contaminated room surfaces following a significant tritium (T) room release, painted metal strips were exposed to tritium (T₂ or HTO)* and the outgassing rates measured. This was followed by exposures in a 1-m³ chamber, whose walls were coated with the material to be studied. The results show that the differences in the contamination of, and subsequent outgassing by, several epoxy and latex paints may be significant. The greatest differences, however, were the much higher contamination following exposure to HTO compared to T₂, and the lower contamination of exposed bare aluminum foil compared to painted surfaces, for both HTO and T₂.