Any dust produced in Nuclear Power generation must not be released into the atmosphere. The problem was how to pick up low level dusts not collected by conventional techniques. The same challenge applies to the disposal of asbestos. In both examples, potentially dangerous dust particles needed to be captured.

The solution

T-600 Tack Cloths are cloths of cotton scrim that have been impregnated with a non-drying adhesive. They were originally produced for the automotive industry, who used them to remove dust from car bodies prior to painting. The technique was simply to lightly wipe the sticky cloth over the surface to pick up dust and dirt particles. This dust catching property was exactly what was needed here.

The result

Low levels of dust could easily be captured by the adhesive impregnated cloth. They are now widely used in the nuclear power industry and in the disposal of dangerous asbestos dust.