Online measurement of the atmosphere around geopolymers under gamma irradiation

Cantarel, V.; Lambertin, D.*; Labed, V.*; Yamagishi, Isao

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 58(1), p.62 - 71, 2021/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/00223131.2020.1801531

The gas production of wasteforms is a major safety concern for encapsulating active nuclear wastes. For geopolymers and cements, the H produced by radiolytic processes is a key factor because of the large amount of water present in their porous structure. Herein, the gas composition evolution around geopolymers was monitored on line under Co gamma irradiation. Transient evolution of the hydrogen production yield was measured for samples with different formulations. The rate of its evolution and the final values are consistent with the presence of a chemical reaction of the pseudo-first order consuming hydrogen in the samples. The results show this phenomenon can significantly reduce the hydrogen source term of geopolymer wasteform provided their diffusion constant remains low. Lower hydrogen production rates and faster kinetics were observed with geopolymers formulations in which pore water pH was higher. Besides hydrogen production, a steady oxygen consumption was observed for all geopolymers samples. The oxygen consumption rates are proportional to the diffusion constants estimated in the modelization of hydrogen recombination by a pseudo first order reaction.