In today’s increasingly extensive application of nuclear technology, radioactive waste treatment has become a key link to ensure ecological safety. As the core equipment of nuclear pollution prevention and control, the radiation-proof lead tank builds a “safe closed loop” of radioactive waste from generation to disposal with its excellent shielding performance and full-cycle management capability.
Sorting: Precise response to radioactive waste characteristics
Radioactive waste is divided into liquid, solid and gaseous forms, and lead tanks play a differentiated role in different scenarios. In a nuclear medicine center in Sichuan Province, the radioactive waste liquid was transferred to the decay tank through the lead tank, and through the multiple shielding of the 10-20mm lead equivalent tank, to ensure that the radiation leakage of the cobalt-60 half-life nuclides during the decay process is less than 0.1μSv/h. For volatile nuclides such as iodine-131, lead tanks equipped with activated carbon filtration layers can control exhaust gas radioactivity concentrations below 0.01Bq/L.
Technological innovation: material upgrade and intelligent control
Traditional lead cans are undergoing a material revolution. The tungsten alloy lead tank developed by a technology company in Chengdu reduces the weight by 30% while maintaining the shielding efficiency of 50mm lead equivalent, significantly improving transportation safety. The application of the Internet of Things technology realizes the whole process monitoring, and the GPS and radiation sensors embedded in the tank can transmit the position and dose data in real time, and automatically trigger the alarm system when the radiation value exceeds the threshold. A processing base in Jiangsu Province uses blockchain technology to chain the flow information of lead cans to ensure that the direction of each batch of waste can be traced.
Regulatory support: Full life cycle management system
New regulations from the National Nuclear Safety Administration in 2024 require that radioactive waste temporary storage facilities must be equipped with shielding devices such as lead tanks. Taking a radioactive waste repository in Beijing as an example, a nested design of double lead tanks was adopted, with the inner 30mm lead equivalent tank storing the waste radioactive source and the outer 50mm lead equivalent tank realizing secondary protection, and the overall radiation shielding efficiency reached 99.99%. Regular gamma ray inspection of lead tanks shows that the weld defect rate of the tank is less than 0.05%, ensuring a safe service life of more than ten years.
Typical case: Innovation practice in Yangtze River Delta region
At the Shanghai Radioactive Waste Treatment Center, lead tanks work with robots for intelligent disposal. The robot arm accurately grabs the lead tank through the visual identification system, and transfers the short half-life (such as technetium-99m) waste to the decay warehouse, while the long half-life waste is transported through the lead tank seal to the Northwest disposal site. Data from the center show that in 2024, through the temporary decay of lead tanks, the total α-specific activity of radioactive waste liquid is reduced from 10Bq/L to 0.3Bq/L, and the surface dose rate of solid waste is lower than 0.1mSv/h.
Environmental benefits: Reduce pollution risk by 98%
Third-party monitoring data show that the standardized use of lead tanks can reduce the accident rate of radioactive waste transportation by 98%. After the introduction of lead tank intelligent scheduling system in a nuclear technology application unit in Hunan, the average annual exposure dose of radiation workers decreased from 0.5mSv to 0.08mSv, and the ambient air absorbed dose rate of gamma radiation stabilized at the natural background level (0.05-0.1μGy/h).
Future outlook: Intelligence and green development
With the increasing demand for nuclear medicine diagnosis and treatment, lead tanks are developing into modular designs. The expandable tank structure allows the lining to be changed quickly depending on the type of waste, adapting to the shielding needs of different nuclides. The lead based composite material developed by the Tsinghua University team reduces the amount of lead used by 40% while maintaining the shielding performance, providing technical support for the green transformation of the industry.
From nuclear medicine departments to waste disposal sites, lead tanks serve as “mobile safes” for radioactive materials, carrying the heavy responsibility of ecological safety. Driven by technological innovation and improved regulations, this “steel barrier” is escorting the sustainable development of nuclear technology in a smarter and more environmentally friendly manner.
Post time: Mar-20-2025
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