Method of decontaminating radioactive metal surfaces

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of decontaminating metal surfaces contaminated with a radioactive deposit by passing over the coating an aqueous solution of a water soluble condensation reaction product of (1) a hydrazine compound having the general formula ##STR1## where each R group is independently selected from hydrogen and alkyl to C.sub.4 and (2) a water soluble aliphatic polycarboxylic acid. The method includes the additional last steps of passing an aqueous oxidizing solution over the deposit followed by passing a decontamination solution over the deposit a second time. The solution is circulated through a cationic exchange column which can be preloaded with hydrazine ion. The decontamination solution can be decomposed by the addition of an oxidant to form nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and water.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.