The Inhibitory effect of hydrogen release from high active liquid waste, 3; Estimation of the hydrogen concentration of upper space of tank

Kodama, Takashi*; Nakano, Masanao*; Hayashi, Yoshiaki*; Matsuoka, Shingo*; Ito, Yasuo*; Matsuura, Chihiro*; Shiraishi, Hirotsugu; Katsumura, Yosuke*

We report here an evaluation for hydrogen concentration that may be attained in the upper space of the high-level liquid waste tank when the gas sweeping function happens to be lost. The parameters are the rate of radiolytic production of hydrogen, the rate of Pd-catalyzed hydrogen consuming reaction, and the solubility of hydrogen. For the first, a literature value on nitric acid solution was used, while for the second and third, experimental estimate was made in the present study with mock high-level liquid waste. All data have been taken at ambient temperature. For simplicity, it was assumed that both the gas and the liquid are homogeneous, and that the two phases are in equilibrium regarding hydrogen concentration. These led to an estimate of 0.6% for the hydrogen concentration in the gas phase, a value smaller than the lower limit of explosion.