Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1569680 Journal of Nuclear Materials 2006 9 Pages PDF
Abstract

The detritiation efficiency of type 316 stainless steel (SS316) using liquids reagents (distilled deionized water, concentrated aqueous ammonia or a diluted hydrochloric acid/nitric acid mixture) was investigated at ambient temperature by means of liquid scintillation counting (LSC) and β-ray-induced X-ray spectrometry (BIXS). After a fast initial removal of tritium trapped on the outermost surface of SS316 with a rate in the order water < ammonia < acid mixture a slow chronic liberation of tritium into all three liquids sets in. First results indicate that chronic release occurs with a rate of approx. 0.2% per day. The long-term release was found to be largely independent from the kind of liquid agent into which the metal is submerged and from the initial loading of the SS316 specimen. From a practical point of view, the release rate of tritium into liquids is too slow for conditioning applications. Complementary evidence for the occurrence of a chronic liberation of tritium from SS316 into air at ambient temperature was obtained from tritium depth profiling of aged specimens by acid etching.

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Physical Sciences and Engineering Energy Nuclear Energy and Engineering
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