U.S. Designed a Mobile Laboratory Trailer
Radiation Safety & Control Services Inc. (RSCS) was contracted by Energy Solutions LLC to design and build a custom mobile laboratory to support the chemistry and radiation protection departments during D&D and FSS activities at the Kewaunee Power Station (KPS). In particular, to ensure the chemical analysis and counting of lake effluent samples, samples from wells, chemical analysis of water during the internal processing of the reactor vessel, as well as analysis of soil and air samples throughout the site.
The design of this trailer required additional solutions than a standard commercial mobile laboratory, as it is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Carlton County, Virginia. This region is regularly subject to extreme temperature fluctuations that can damage sensitive analytical equipment. Therefore, the trailer additionally contains a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system that can withstand sudden temperature fluctuations.
To meet the needs of the specialists, the trailer is equipped with three intermediate wastewater containers, which use a new approach to heating and insulation. They will process both ordinary waste water and radiological waste located within the radiologically controlled area. In addition, the trailer also has a system for receiving purified deionized water, a portable eyewash station, a storage cabinet for radiological sources with a built-in exhaust cabinet.
To ensure the safety of personnel working in the mobile laboratory, the trailer has additional protective doors and windows. The location of the doors and windows in relation to the laboratory equipment, benches and office space was critical to manage the frequent foot traffic in the trailer due to the processing of large numbers of samples.
This trailer is ready for operation and can be commissioned within days of arrival. Once the work at the site is completed, it can be moved to another site to support similar projects.
Mobile laboratories support projects that require large volumes of analytical results with fast performance, flexibility, and cost savings compared to the logistics and delays involved in sending large volumes of samples to a remote laboratory for analysis.