Evidence of Tritiated Organic Evolution from Stainless Steel Surfaces

Tritiated stainless steel surfaces are shown to evolve tritiated species other than HTO and HT. These species are identified as being organic in nature and highly condensable on system walls. The source of the organics is viewed as being the hydrocarbon layer on the stainless steel surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of cleaned stainless steel surfaces indicate that a majority of the surface is covered by carbon. The carbon is bound predominantly in hydrocarbon groups. Engineering materials are expected to be sources of hydrocarbons awaiting tritiation. These volatile tritiated organics could have an impact on dosimetric calculations and on surface contamination of metals.