Gas Generation by Self-Radiolysis of Tritiated Waste Materials

Studies simulating the effect of self-radiolysis in disposal packages containing tritiated waste materials show hydrogen to be the dominant gas-phase product. Pressure buildup and gas composition over various tritiated octane and tritiated water samples are designed to give “worst case” results. One effect of tritium fixation agents is to reduce pressure buildup. The results show that development of explosive gas mixtures is unlikely and that maximum pressure buildup in typical Mound Facility waste packages can be expected to be <0.25 MPa.