arizona98tj
Member
I've worked at a nuclear power plant now just short of 28 years. As you may or may not know, there are areas in the plant where radioactive contamination is present. It is typically the result of refueling outages when the primary system gets opened up, water evaporates, and particulates get airborne.
Anyway, the point I am making is that personnel working in these contaminated areas can get contamination on their skin even though they are wearing protective clothing. Before being allowed to leave the area, they are checked and if contaminated, the contamination must be removed using one or more different methods. One of the least methods, last time I checked, was using soap and water. If used, the way I was taught....one uses body temperature water. Why? Cold water causes the pores on your skin to close and retain the contamination that is already there. Water too warm causes the pores on your skin to open and allows the contamination to get deeper into your skin. I suppose the folks that do it professionally for a living could be all wrong about it, but I doubt it. Me....I'll follow the training I received as I see little if any difference between removing particulates from my skin, be it radioactive or lead.
Anyway, the point I am making is that personnel working in these contaminated areas can get contamination on their skin even though they are wearing protective clothing. Before being allowed to leave the area, they are checked and if contaminated, the contamination must be removed using one or more different methods. One of the least methods, last time I checked, was using soap and water. If used, the way I was taught....one uses body temperature water. Why? Cold water causes the pores on your skin to close and retain the contamination that is already there. Water too warm causes the pores on your skin to open and allows the contamination to get deeper into your skin. I suppose the folks that do it professionally for a living could be all wrong about it, but I doubt it. Me....I'll follow the training I received as I see little if any difference between removing particulates from my skin, be it radioactive or lead.