1. Specifications / Design / Construction and Operation of ATMOSTAT Beryllium facility CONCHON Denis Session 2 Workshop on Be application and health & safety June 28-30, 2017

2. ATMOSTAT on ITER components with Be
Faraday screen
Mock-ups for high heat flux testing
PFW panels
F4E-OPE-097
F4E-OPE-443
+ Other subjects without Be such as
TBM
Inner Vertical Target

3. ATMOSTAT activity on fusion since 1988
Machning Beryllium tiles for ITER & JET machine
Machining mock-ups and FWP semi-prototypes
Polishing samples of with Be (formation of different phases, intermetallic particles and inclusions)
Be assembly from brazing to HIP (formation of different phases, intermetallic particles and inclusions)
Mechanical testing of Be heterogeneous joint (Shear testing and numerical approach)

4. Safety principles on Be management
Be exposure must be kept as low as reasonnably possible : within ATMOSTAT Beryllium is seen as an allergen.
Ventilation and engineering controls - use of local ventilation with filters is the preferred method of controlling exposure to airborn particles - exhaust ventilation positionned as closed as possible from the source avoid any disruption of airflow in the area of exhaust inlet - regular check of ventilation system, filters efficiency

5. Safety principles on Be management
Work practices - develop work pratice to prevent particles to be in contact with workers - appropriate washing of cloths and skin when coming out of the Be facility - no use of compressed air to clean surface - particular attention paid to Be oxidation on surface (EDM for instance)
Wet method - when machining, removing burrs, polishing, use of wet conditions to avoid airborn particles - cleaning with dedicated industrial washing and drying machines

6. Safety principles on Be management
Protective equipments - preventive use of respirators when Be dealing with high rate of Be particles (scrap materials management, filters cleaning…) - gloves for any worker within the Be facility : strong issue on sharps tools (cuting tools) - safety glasses or face shield when Be particles projection are possible (grinding, powder handling) - disposable clothes for workers - disposable lab jacket and shoe covers for visitors

7. Safety principles on Be management
Exposure characterisation - determine exposure to airborn particles by air sampling in the working breathing zone and its surounding - determine surface contamination by sampling and analysis - determine absence of contamination in the surounding of the Be workshop - communication on Be contamination results (internally and occupational medecine)

8. Be required levels at ATMOSTAT
From French safety contraints we have : Occupation Exposure Limit (OEL) for employee during 8h/day and 40h/week is fixed at 2 µg/m3 in air (INRS toxicological FT )
Fixed levels within ATMOSTAT - Be on surfaces and ground < 3 µg/dm² - decontamination is mandatory if it reaches 2 µg/dm² - Be content in water that might be released must < 0.1µg/l - Be content in the air released to be released must be < 0.01 µg/m3

9. ATMOSTAT Be workshop Area : 200 m² + ITER assembly hall : 70 m²
Cloakroom, airlocks
Separate access for visitors and workers
Basement that includes : air filtration system, wastewater collection tank, coolants recovery tank, waste recovery containers dedicated Be chips containers raw material stock

10. ATMOSTAT Be workshop Be workshop ventilation system
A ventilation system ensures a depression of Be workshops of at least 30 Pa,
Air change rate of at least 3 times per hour,
Several high efficiency filters in series,
Two aspiration systems on workstations equipped with filter and cyclone system - one is near the particles sources (tools), - one is located on the machine tool,

11. ATMOSTAT Be workshop
Ventilation system is equipped with : - Differential pressure gauge to prevent filters clogging, - Pipes for collecting air samples, - Sensor for measuring the filtered air volumetric flow, - Pressure gauge for measuring depression in workshops.
Maintenance Cleaning is scheduled and performed on weekly basis. Extra cleaning are performed as a corrective actions according to results obtained on test samples

12. ATMOSTAT Be workshop
Weekly maintenance on workshop, cloakroom and machine tool
Machine tools are cleaned by operators once a week
Annual maintenance of filters
Cyclone filter is drained as needed (about once a year)
Be waste are removed and evacuated when needed, a specific procedure is applied for Be waste disposal.
General inspection on ventilation system once a year
All evacuated parts are weighted to identify Be quantity (in filters)
Be stock (raw material and powder are logged on a year basis)

13. ATMOSTAT workshop control
Be workshops are subject to systematic checks weekly scheduled
In-house spectrometric analysis performed by qualified technicians. Internal and external communication of results as well a long term conservation of data.
Yearly cross-check of in-house spectrometric analysis with a client to validate our process

14. Medical surpervision at ATMOSTAT
Only workers with a dedicated medical surpervision can operate in ATMOSTAT Be workshop
Medical survey for Be includes - Skin examination, - Respiratory history, - Examination of the lungs, - Lung function tests (FVC and FEV1), - Periodic chest x-ray, - Specific, immunological blood test, the beryllium Blood Lymphocyte Proliferation Test (BLPT), to assist in diagnosis of beryllium related reactions.
Abnormal or positive blood test lymphocyte begins to grow and divided

15. Medical surpervision at ATMOSTAT
Workers are followed by specialist and sensitivity to beryllium is checked yearly. In case of a positive test, a new one is performed few weeks later. With 2 consecutive positive tests, workers are excluded from Be workshop.
The Be follow-up starts before first Be exposure until leaving ATMOSTAT (independently of its exposure to Be)
It is to be noted that ambient pollution, known alergia and smoking are strongly affecting Be sensitivity.

16. Conclusion on Be within ATMOSTAT
Be activity implies strong constraints and costs (dedicated means, procedures)
Detectors sensitivity is limited
Workers follow-up is a long term activity, human management has to take into account positive people to Be
ATMOSTAT keeps an history on beryllium of about 30 years. Thanks to a strong Be management, so far no beryllium disease on workers.