Method for dismantling potentially contaminated tubes from a tube bundle

Abstract

A method for deforming, splitting and chopping of contaminated, or potentially contaminated, heat exchanger tubes into short tubes segments that easily may transported to an off-site location for decontamination or disposal. The method has particular utility in dismantling potentially contaminated tubes from a tube bundle that is part of a condenser for a BWR or PWR nuclear power plant. The method involves first gripping and deforming the exterior periphery of a potentially contaminated tube with opposed transverse forces sufficient to travel the tube longitudinally out of the tubesheets in a deformed condition, and then splitting the deformed tube into first and second wall sections which are chopped into short length wall segments. The deformation preferably flattens the tube so that the short wall segments are substantially planar, with exposed inner and outer surfaces.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.