Establishment of a clean chemistry laboratory at JAERI; Clean Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Research (CLEAR)

Hanzawa, Yukiko  ; Magara, Masaaki  ; Watanabe, Kazuo; Esaka, Fumitaka  ; Miyamoto, Yutaka   ; Yasuda, Kenichiro   ; Gunji, Katsubumi*; Yamamoto, Yoichi ; Takahashi, Tsukasa; Sakurai, Satoshi ; Usuda, Shigekazu; Adachi, Takeo; Department of Construction

The JAERI has established a facility with a cleanroom: the Clean Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Research (CLEAR). This report is an overview of the design, construction and performance evaluation of the CLEAR in the initial stage of the laboratory operation in June 2001. The CLEAR is a facility to be used for ultra trace analyses of nuclear materials in environmental samples for the safeguards, for the CTBT verification and for researches on environmental sciences. The CLEAR meets double requirements of a cleanroom and for handling of nuclear materials. Much attention was paid to the construction materials of the cleanroom for trace analysis of metal elements using corrosive acids. The air conditioning and purification system, experimental equipment, utilities and safety systems are also demonstrated. The potential contamination from the completed cleanroom atmosphere during the analytical procedure was evaluated. It can be concluded that the CLEAR has provided a suitable condition for reliable analysis of ultra trace amounts of nuclear materials in environmental samples.