The characterisation of vapour-phase alkali metal-tellurium-oxygen species

Detailed assessments of hypothetical severe accidents in light water reactors require the identification of the chemical forms of the radionuclides in order to determine their transport characteristics. Caesium and tellurium are important volatile fission products in accident scenarios. This report describes detailed studies to characterise the chemical species that vaporise from heated mixtures of various alkali metal-tellurium-oxygen systems. The molecular species were characterised by a combination of quadrupole mass spectrometry and matrix isolation-infrared spectroscopy undertaken in conjunction with experiments involving oxygen-18 substitution. The resulting spectra were interpreted in terms of a vapour-phase molecule with the stoichiometry M2TeO3 (M = K,Rb,Cs) for M/Te molecular ratios of ∼ 2, and polymeric species for ratios < 2. This work has demonstrated the stability of caesium tellurite. The formation of this relatively low-volatility, water-soluble species could significantly modify the transport and release of caesium and tellurium. The data presented in this report should allow more comprehensive thermodynamic calculations to be undertaken that assist in the quantification of fission product behaviour during severe reactor accidents. (author)