Radiolytic decomposition of oxalic acid in nuclear power plant by gamma irradiation

Abstract

Abstract The radiation-induced decomposition of oxalic acid was investigated. Co-60 was used for irradiation source and the efficiency of radiolytic decomposition was estimated using G-value and dose constant. Oxalic acid was successfully decomposed by ionizing radiation process of gamma irradiation. The removal of oxalic acid at 10 mM was 16.6, 36.5, 69.5, 83.4, and 92.2% for absorbed dose of 5, 10, 20, 30, and 50 kGy, respectively. The G-value and dose constant for radiolytic decomposition were highly dependent upon the initial concentration of oxalic acid. The G-values for radiolytic decomposition at 5 kGy were 0.82, 2.09, 7.25, 17.02 for initial concentrations of 1, 2, 5, and 10 mM, respectively, but those at 50 kGy were 0.03, 0.04, 0.07, 0.16. The dose constant for 1, 2, 5 and 10 mM were 0.1695, 0.1221, 0.0904, and 0.0536 1/kGy, respectively. The results of this study showed the possibility of ionizing radiation process to decompose decontamination agents in nuclear power plants.