Radiochemical reactions between tritium oxides and carbon monoxide

Shu, Wataru; Ohira, Shigeru; Suzuki, Takumi; Nishi, Masataka

As a study on radiochemical reactions in the process of tritium recovery from the in-vessel components of future deuterium-tritium fusion machine like ITER beta-induced reactions in a N-balanced system of tritium oxides (TO/TO) with CO were examined by laser Raman, Fourier transition infrared (FT-IR) and mass spectroscopy. The depletion of CO follows a first-order reaction with a rate constant of 0.02 day, whereas the formation of CO is a complex process whose rate constant decreases from 2 day to 0.02 day. The main species on the 49th day after mixing CO are the produced CO and the balanced gas (N) in the gaseous phase, and the tritiated water predominates in the condensed phase. Tritiated substances like aldehyde, alcohol and carboxylic acid found in T-CO system were not detected in the products of reactions between tritium oxides and carbon monoxide at the same detection limit.