Surface and Gas Phase Production of HTO from HT: Review and Recommendations

The chemical processes by which tritium can be converted to tritiated water have been examined by reviewing the available literature on these processes. Gas phase conversion reactions at room temperature are slow and they do not contribute significantly to any observed conversion following releases of elemental tritium. The effects of different surfaces are not clearly understood. Metals can increase the rate over the gas phase processes, but the magnitude of this increase is not well documented. Further work is necessary to examine the effects of various materials, elevated temperatures, and other parameters on the rates of conversion reactions in order to more closely reflect conditions in reactor buildings and other tritium containing facilities.