09 Feb Laundry washing is a central part of decommissioning, on par with the demolition of reactor buildings.

At Danish Decommissioning, we operate our own laundry facility. While it may seem a luxury to arrive to freshly laundered clothing, its purpose extends far beyond mere comfort.

Just 15 meters, as the crow flies, from Denmark's largest reactor building ever, stands a modest, unassuming building.

This building is divided into several rooms, and within one of them lies a function that few would likely associate with decommissioning. Here, soap and water are the preferred tools, rather than saw blades and blowtorches.

History of the Laundry Facility
The laundry facility has always been part of Risø, and a review of the archives reveals that in 1991, over 80 tons of laundry were processed annually. At that time, it served as the central laundry for all of Risø, supporting approximately 1,000 employees.

Since then, the laundry facility has relocated from the waste treatment plant near Risø's wastewater treatment plant to its current position close to the distillation plant, where all active wastewater is processed.
This relocation occurred because the Decommissioning of the waste treatment plant was commencing, making it no longer feasible to retain the laundry facility within the same building.

Similarly, its scale has been somewhat reduced, and it is now operated by a single employee, in contrast to previous periods when multiple full-time equivalents were assigned to the laundry facility.

Today, the primary task of the laundry facility is to wash the workwear for the 35 craftsmen affiliated with Danish Decommissioning. This workwear is donned each morning upon arrival and submitted for washing after each workday.

Additionally, countless towels and other materials, such as coveralls, pass through the laundry facility on a weekly basis.

The Laundry Facility Ensures Against Contamination
Today, Preben manages the laundry facility, a role he has held for approximately six months.

Consequently, Preben is also responsible for determining the appropriate wash temperatures for clothing, drying it, folding it, and packing it for return to its designated place. In these aspects, the laundry facility does not differ significantly from many others; however, two specific features distinguish DD's laundry from most.

After washing the garments, Preben inspects them for potential radioactive contamination using a specialized plate, where each item is turned and rotated to measure all fibers. If contamination is detected, the garment must be rewashed, potentially at a higher temperature. If it cannot be cleaned effectively, the garment must be disposed of as active waste.

The wash temperature is also a critical factor, as the laundry facility features a dedicated room for 'active wash.' This is for workwear, such as fabric coveralls, suspected of being contaminated. Here, garments undergo a regular boil wash at over 90 °C, simply to ensure that any contamination is not retained in the fabric, thereby allowing the suits to be reused.

This also means that Preben continuously monitors himself, including after each entry to and exit from the 'active' wash area.

What about the water?
As a final detail distinguishing the laundry facility at Danish Decommissioning from most others, there is the water.
The water pumped into the washing machines is demineralized primarily to prevent limescale, which is undesirable in active wastewater as it leaves deposits that reduce the efficiency of subsequent processes, but also to conserve soap.

And when the water is pumped out again, there are many steps before it reaches the sewage system, as the 'active' water from the active wash must pass through several 'obstacles' such as coarse filters, pipes, tanks, and distillation tanks, before a portion of it can finally be discharged.

It is important to understand that the term 'active' in this context refers to potentially active materials, i.e., clothing or other items to be washed, originating from an area where they could potentially have acquired radioactive contamination. However, this is often not the case.

All active water at Risø is collected in a pair of large storage tanks, including the active water from the laundry facility, after which it is pumped to a treatment tank before being routed through a distillation plant, which removes contamination from the majority of the active water.

All activity is now concentrated in a smaller volume of concentrate, while the remaining water, which constitutes the majority of the distilled volume, is a contamination-free distillate. The distillate is checked for any residual activity, and the test results will indicate whether it can be released into the sewage system.

Always below the limit values
Danish Decommissioning's laboratory unit compiles a semi-annual report detailing the discharges from Danish Decommissioning's facilities. This report presents the results of the aforementioned sample analyses, which include the active water from the laundry.

This report is submitted to the nuclear regulatory authorities and, throughout Danish Decommissioning's operational history, has never indicated any exceedances of the limits for radioactive material discharge.

From the Laundry to the Shelves
Back at the laundry facility, the freshly washed clothing is folded and sorted into the correct sizes, then packed into blue containers that are collected weekly.

Here, Preben receives assistance in transporting the clothing to the appropriate facilities and designated locations, making it ready for another operational cycle at Danish Decommissioning's facilities.