Radiolytic gas production from tritiated water adsorbed on molecular sieve 5A

Hydrogen evolution from 60Co γ- and 3H β-irradiated molecular sieve 5A adsorbing HTO was measured. The results showed an additional evolution of H2(HT) gas due to energy transfer from molecular sieve to adsorbed water in both γ- and β-irradiations, and the yield at a given irradiation dose was higher than that from radiolysis of liquid HTO but lower than that in the silica gel-HTO system. The additional yield was formulated as a function of the amount of adsorbed water and irradiation dose. However a large difference in hydrogen yields was observed between γ- and β-irradiations contrary to silica gel-HTO system. A possible reason is considered. (author)