Radiation shielding method and radiation shielding device

• US 8,569,725 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2009
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
• Inventors: Shimazu, Yukihide
• Primary Examiner(s): IPPOLITO, NICOLE MARIE
• Application Number:
  US13/056,907
• Publication Number:
  US 20110127451A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: 250/505.1, 250/506.1, 250/507.1, 250/517.1, 250/518.1, 250/519.1
• US Class Current: 250/515.1
• CPC Class Codes: G21D 1/02 Arrangements of auxiliary equipment
• CPC Class Codes: G21F 3/00 Shielding characterised by its physical form, e.g. granules, or shape of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G21F 7/068 Remotely manipulating devices for fluids

Abstract

To include a step of installing a hollow container (1) at a predetermined portion of an object to be shielded (100), a step of feeding fluid into the container (1) via a hose (22) by a fluid feeding unit (2), and a step of transporting and filling a granular shielding material into the container (1) via the hose (22) by supplying the shielding material to the fluid by a shielding-material supply unit (3). With this arrangement, because a shielding material is fed into the container (1) together with the fluid and filled therein at a remote place from the object to be shielded (100), a worker does not need to approach the object to be shielded (100). Further, because a shielding effect is improved by the granular shielding material, an amount of radiation to the worker can be reduced easily and sufficiently.

Claims

1. A radiation shielding method comprising:

installing a hollow container at a predetermined portion of an object to be shielded;

feeding fluid into the container via a feeding hose;

supplying a shielding material to the feeding hose and transporting and filling a granular shielding material into the container by the fluid;

extracting the shielding material filled in the container from the container together with fluid discharged to outside of the container via a returning hose, while feeding fluid into the container via a feeding hose, in a state that the shielding material is filled in the container; and

recovering the shielding material from the fluid, wherein

the extracting the shielding material filled in the container from the container includes injecting the fluid, which is fed from the feeding hose to the returning hose, from an injection port formed in a tubular shaped injecting nozzle toward an inlet formed in a tubular shaped fetching member,

the fetching member connected to the returning hose in the container,

the inlet having a larger diameter than the injection port, and

the inlet arranged so as to face the injection port.

2. The radiation shielding method according to claim 1, wherein at the feeding

fluid into the container, liquid is used as the fluid and the liquid is filled in the container via the feeding hose.

3. The radiation shielding method according to claim 1, wherein the container is mounted on the object to be shielded at all times.

4. A radiation shielding device comprising:

a hollow container installed at a predetermined portion of an object to be shielded;

a fluid feeding unit that feeds fluid into the container via a feeding hose;

a shielding-material supply unit that supplies a granular shielding material to the feeding hose;

a shielding-material extracting unit that circulates the shielding material filled in the container together with fluid discharged to outside of the container via a returning hose, while feeding fluid into the container via a feeding hose; and

a shielding-material recovering unit that recovers the shielding material from the fluid, wherein

the shielding-material extracting unit includes an injection nozzle having a tubular shape and an injection port that injects the fluid fed into the container, and a fetching member having a tubular shape and an inlet for fetching the shielding material together with fluid discharged from the container, which are provided in the container, and an injection port of the injection nozzle is arranged toward the inlet of the fetching member,

the inlet has a larger aperture than the injection port, and

the inlet is disposed so as to face the injection port.

5. The radiation shielding device according to claim 4, wherein the shielding-material extracting unit includes a switching unit that switches a feeding direction of fluid in a reverse flow mode of the fluid.

6. The radiation shielding device according to claim 4, wherein the hose for circulating the shielding material together with fluid between the shielding-material supply unit and the container is made to be transparent.

7. The radiation shielding device according to claim 4, wherein the hose for circulating the shielding material together with fluid between the shielding-material recovering unit and the container is made to be transparent.

8. The radiation shielding device according to claim 4, wherein water is used as the fluid, and a pellet containing tungsten is used as the shielding material.