Decontamination of a furnace contaminated with beryllium residues

The client owned a small vertical furnace containing beryllium residues. A containment area was put in place to prevent cross-contamination. A continuous vacuum was installed to capture beryllium dust during the opening of the furnace. The decontamination was then carried out following the steps validated by the customer:

• Suction of the inner surface of the oven;
• Decontamination by wet methods;
• Decontamination by applying a fixative to remove as much beryllium as possible from the porosities of the refractory bricks.