Gas generation by -ray irradiation to polyethylene, polystyrene and cellulose resin

Saito, Kosuke

At 23rd July 2010, a fire accident broke out in Plutonium Fuel Development Center (Pu Center), Tokai, JAEA. The fire was occurred from the cylindrical container of stainless steel in a glove box which loaded uranium and plutonium compounds. In order to clear up the cause of the fire, Pu Center studied it from all angles. For one of the possible causes, some inflammable gas and/or hydrogen gas were deduced to be generated from irradiated plastic cases and/or cellulose resin which are organic substances in the stainless container. The plastic cases, which were used to reposit nuclear materials, are made of both polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS). The both polymer was known to be decomposed by -ray irradiation and generate hydrogen gas, whose quantitative evaluation as absorbed dose was reported. As for PE, other gases such as carbon oxides, methane and ethane are produced. Cellulose resin was used for binder of uranium nitride powder, but gas generation from cellulose resin by -ray irradiation has not been reported. Then, in order to demonstrate and investigate hydrogen and inflammable-gas generation from polymers and cellulose resins, -ray irradiation to the materials and analyses of the generated gaseous substances were performed.