Trusted Partner for
Nuclear Safety & Compliance

ETI supports nuclear facilities with protective clothing, waste reduction technologies, transportation, and compliance expertise — ensuring safety in the most regulated environments.

Working In
Safety & Comfort

ETI can provide nuclear power industry operations with waterproof coveralls, rain suits and booties, as well as ice vests, glove liners, mops, waste bags, utility aprons, tote bags, FME covers, spill socks and sheeting rolls. Our products are available in original, deluxe, ultra, extreme and FR lines for various levels of protection required on the job.

Comprehensive Safety &
Waste-Reduction Solutions

Protecting Workers & Reducing Risk in Nuclear Operations

From power plants to DOE sites and naval operations, ETI delivers end-to-end safety and waste-reduction solutions tailored for nuclear facilities. With 35+ years of expertise, we help radiation protection managers and facility directors maintain compliance, improve efficiency, and safeguard workers in high-risk environments.

Comprehensive Support for Nuclear Safety

Protective Clothing

Single-use OREX™ garments designed to minimize contamination events.

OREX™ Processing

Proprietary waste reduction technologies.

Technical Expertise

Audit-ready documentation and compliance support.

Radiological Laundry

Specialized laundering to extend garment use safely.

Transportation & Containers

Compliant logistics for contaminated materials.

Reducing Waste, Enhancing Compliance

At a leading U.S. nuclear facility, ETI’s OREX™ processing reduced radioactive waste volumes by 70%, lowering disposal costs and improving regulatory compliance.

Nuclear Facility Achieves
70% Waste Reduction

A U.S. nuclear power utility partnered with ETI to implement OREX™ garment processing, cutting radioactive waste volume by 70% while lowering disposal costs and maintaining strict compliance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is OREX?
OREX is the trade name for a new line of products engineered specifically for the nuclear industry. OREX products are manufactured from a special, degradable polymer that is environmentally friendly. Following use, the used products are treated offsite using a proprietary process that dissolves the product in high temperature water (> 190 degrees f.), decontaminates it and finally chemically converts it to carbon dioxide and water, much of which is returned to the environment for reuse. This process results in waste volume reduction factors reported as high as 10,000:1. This means an entire 20’ long sea-land container full of OREX materials can be ultimately placed in a 1-gallon container.
Currently, coveralls, hoods, booties, hardhat covers, wipes, mops, OREX waste bags and roll stock are available. Several new products such as splash resistant coveralls are in development.
OREX coveralls come in the following sizes: Medium, Large, X-Large, 2X-Large, 3X-Large and 4X-Large.
The standard rubber gloves and shoe covers will be used.
OREX clothing is most noted for its light weight and comfort. The garments are breathable and tend to reduce heat stress. A full OREX dressout (coverall, booties and hood) weighs less than 1/3 that of traditional cloth garments. OREX usage is expected to provide numerous other benefits to the plant including reduced numbers of laundry shipments during outages and improved economics over current approaches.
OREX will be used in place of conventional cotton coveralls and launderable hoods and booties. It may be also be used as an outer layer to replace paper suits in some cases. Radiation Protection personnel, plant procedures, or RWP’s will provide instructions on when, where and how to dress using the OREX products.
OREX is more “breathable” than conventional paper suits, so it tends to be much more comfortable to wear. However, OREX clothing was designed as a substitute for traditional cotton and poly/cotton blend fabric protective clothing. Like cloth fabrics, OREX is not intended to provide an absolute barrier to contaminants. In many cases, paper coveralls might still be the most prudent dress requirement due to its superior barrier protection. Plant specifics and experience will determine the best applications for OREX.
Although the OREX products are extremely lightweight, they are very durable. OREX clothing has been used at several utilities for all sorts of activities including scaffolding installation, steam generator platform work, refuel cavity decontamination, drywell entries, shielding installation, fuel transfer canal work, etc. Very few instances of ripping or tearing have been reported.
The OREX clothing will absorb moisture in a fashion similar to a cotton garment. It is not recommended for “wet” contamination type work.
Yes, OTI is evaluating and developing a splash resistant product line and hopes to make it available in early 2003.
Currently, all OREX products are “white” for various reasons. First, it should make field segregation and radiation worker training easier since most clothing today is “yellow”. Second, most dyes are not easily processed in our treatment system due to the inorganic constituents present in such dyes.
At first glance, OREX fabric appears to provide limited protective potential because of its “sheerness”. The interesting fact is that the actual fiber that makes up the fabric is clear! This gives the fabric a less substantial appearance when coupled with its lightweight nature. Due to light diffraction it appears to be “white”. There is no standard test method to determine particulate pass-through properties in a quantitative manner truly representative of field conditions. However, both lab testing and actual field experience in contaminated areas indicates that OREX fabric is at least as good, if not a better barrier than an industry standard cotton or poly/cotton blend garment. Additionally, the fabric is static free and thus will not attract charged “fuel-type” particulates or Radon-222 daughter products.
During processing, OREX only begins to breakdown and dissolve under prolonged immersion or contact with very hot water (>190F). Incidental contact with hot water WILL NOT affect the properties or integrity of the garments.
OREX protective clothing is rated Class I – Normal Flammability by the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulations of 16 CFR 1610-1998. This is equivalent to traditional protective clothing currently used by the industry. This means it is generally acceptable to wear under normal work situations. Remember, OREX is a suitable substitute for traditional cotton or poly/cotton blend protective apparel and can be worn in applications acceptable for traditional garments. However, like most standard cloth protective clothing, OREX is NOT “fire retardant” and specially treated fabrics or special garments should be considered instead for “hot work” in which sparks or welding is involved.
All OREX products should be placed in the laundry receptacles at the undress locations or step- off pads along with all traditional, yellow, launderable products. Our laundry vendor, Eastern Technologies, Inc (ETI), will segregate the OREX products from the conventional launderable products. The OREX processing unit is located at the ETI laundry service facility.
Always put any OREX product in the laundry receptacles regardless of whether it is damaged or cut? DO NOT put it in the trash receptacle because the trash goes to a different vendor for processing. To achieve the maximum benefit of greater volume reduction associated with the OREX processing, the OREX products must always go in the laundry receptacles.
No, DO NOT put any OREX in the trash receptacle because the trash goes to a different vendor for processing. To achieve the maximum benefit of greater volume reduction associated with the OREX processing, the OREX products must always go in the laundry receptacles.
The double sleeve is designed to prevent use of tape or a closure device at the top of the glove. The inner sleeve is rolled down, the glove is put on over the inner sleeve, and the outer sleeve is rolled down on top of the glove cuff.
Although the use of tape is discouraged, a design feature in the processing unit simply ensures that any non-OREX materials will remain in the first stage of the process. The non-OREX materials are easily removed following processing and are returned to the plant as waste for disposal. OREX coverall zippers are processed by ETI as waste.

Build a Safer, More Compliant Nuclear Operation

Partner with ETI to protect workers, minimize waste, and simplify compliance in your nuclear facility.
Shopping Basket