Evaporation suppression from spent fuel storage and disassembly basins with monolayer films

Spent fuel storage and disassembly basins at non-commercial heavy water reactor facilities contain significant quantities of tritiated water. The use of monolayer films for suppressing evaporation from spent nuclear fuel storage basins was investigated. Octadecanol spread easily over large surfaces with a newly designed film pump. This system reduced the evaporation rate by 50%. Consequently, personnel radiation exposure due to tritiated water vapor can be significantly reduced.