RADES an experimental set-up for the characterization of aerosol release from nuclear and radioactive materials

An experimental set-up has been developed for the production and characterization of aerosols developed from RDDs (Radioactive Dispersion Devices, a.k.a. dirty bombs). Separate effects of temperature, materials and different atmospheres on the produced aerosols characteristics can be systematically studied. A laser heating technique is used to vaporize the sample, and aerosols are then generated mainly by nucleation/condensation of the formed vapour. Different collection systems have been developed, permitting the use of different substrates and consequently the application of different post-analysis techniques for aerosols characterization (SEM/EDX, RAMAN, ICP-MS). The set-up permits us to study the chemical processes acting in aerosol formation, thanks to the control of the experiments atmosphere and temperature. The set-up has been tested for different materials, such as ceramics, salts and metals, and proved to be feasible for the production, collection and post-analyses of aerosols. Moreover the set-up is placed in a glove box, and suitable for tests with radioactive and nuclear materials. In this paper the set-up will be described, focussing on the instrumentation applied, on the post-analysis techniques and on the experimental procedure. Finally also examples of the results obtained will be given.