Radioactive substances are produced and/or used in basic research (e.g. particle accelerators), in industrial (e.g. nuclear reactors) and medical applications (e.g. radiopharmaceuticals).
A hot laboratory in general is a building that contains hot cells for post-irradiation examination and research on highly radioactive irradiatedfuel rods, core internals or structural materials.
The PSI Hotlab is the only Swiss installation, allowing safe and secure handling as well as examination of highly toxic radioactive substances and components. Therefore, an extensive safety infrastructure is necessary which includes beside others:
- a complex ventilation system maintaining several low-pressure levels;
- a sewage treatment system, with which the complete radioactive waste water from the PSI east side is cleaned.
- conditioning devices for high active liquid and solid waste;
- a control room to supervise and operate the laboratory.
The building was constructed in between 1961 – 1963 and has been ever since continuously enlarged, extended and upgraded.
The handling and investigation of highly radioactive material requires remote controlled operation and dedicated instrumentation to ensure both the confinement of the radioactivity and the safety of the operators. During its 60 years of operation, the PSI Hotlab has continuously upgraded its basic infrastructure and its analytical tools.
The PSI Hotlab houses:
- 31 Laboratories (rooms) type A (highest activity class in Switzerland);
- 6 concrete hot cells;
- 12 lead or steel shielded cells for analytical instruments or sample preparation;
- several gloves boxes and hoods.
Actually, with its well-educated scientific and technical staff, its analytical infrastructure and its capability to prepare small specimens for further investigation on other PSI large research facilities (SINQ, SLS), the Hotlab is a key facility for the PSI Center for Nuclear Engineering and Sciences , supports the other Centers of PSI and offers a unique and efficient platform for the Swiss and international research community.
The PSI Hotlab has also a user lab function and provides the technical infrastructure and a broad spectrum of services, methods and instrumentation for the manipulation, characterisation and analysis of radioactive materials:
- Hot cell line for sample preparation, material testing and dismantling of large components from the nuclear fuel cycle or accelerator systems
- Specimen preparation from irradiated materials incl. micro-specimens for use in non- or light-shielded instrumentation
- Radiochemical analysis
- Microstructure analysis (optical and electron microscopy)
- Gamma, X-ray and Mass spectrometric techniques for the elemental and isotopic analysis of gaseous, liquid and solid samples incl. surface analytical techniques
- Education of academic and technical junior staff members for the research community and nuclear industry
