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Volatility of radioactive iodine under gamma irradiation: effects of H2O2 and NaOH on the decomposition rate of volatile molecular iodine dissolved in aqueous solutions

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Abstract

The decomposition of molecular iodine by hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide was kinetically studied in aqueous solutions at ambient temperature. To obtain an effective decomposition rate constant under experimental conditions, the concentration of triiodide ions was measured over time instead of that of molecular iodine. Overall, sodium hydroxide was regarded as a more effective decomposer than hydrogen peroxide. As demonstrated in the present study, existing methodologies can be simplified by grouping relevant reaction steps in order to estimate iodine volatility under a severe accident condition for a nuclear power plant.

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Notes

  1. Throughout the text, the “initial concentration” of I− or I2 denotes that as if I− and I2 were never transformed into other iodine species.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT: the Ministry of Science and ICT) (No. 2017M2A8A4015281).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Chemistry Research Division, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, 111, Daedeok-daero 989beon-gil, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34057, Republic of Korea

    TaeJun Kim, Minsik Kim, Sang-Hyuk Jung & Jei-Won Yeon

  2. Radiochemistry and Nuclear Nonproliferation, University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea

    TaeJun Kim, Minsik Kim & Jei-Won Yeon

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Correspondence to Jei-Won Yeon.

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Kim, T., Kim, M., Jung, SH. et al. Volatility of radioactive iodine under gamma irradiation: effects of H2O2 and NaOH on the decomposition rate of volatile molecular iodine dissolved in aqueous solutions. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 316, 1267–1272 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-018-5862-9

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