Experimental investigation on feasible bioreactor using mechanism of hydrogen oxidation of natural soil for detritiation system.

A passive reactor for tritium oxidation at room temperature has been widely studied in nuclear engineering especially for a detritiation system (DS) of a tritium process facility taking possible extraordinary situation severely into consideration. We have focused on bacterial oxidation of tritium by hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria in natural soil to realize the passive oxidation reactor. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of a bioreactor with hydrogen-oxidizing bacteria in soil from a point of view of engineering. The efficiency of the bioreactor was evaluated by kinetics. The bioreactor packed with natural soil shows a relative high conversion rate of tritium under the saturated moisture condition at room temperature, which is obviously superior to that of a Pt/Al2O3 catalyst generally used for tritium oxidation in the existing tritium handling facilities. The order of reaction for tritium oxidation with soil was the pseudo-first order as assessed with Michaelis-Menten kinetics model. Our engineering suggestion to increase the reaction rate is the intentional addition of hydrogen at a small concentration in the feed gas on condition that the oxidation of tritium with soil is expressed by the Michaelis-Menten kinetics model.

Comparison of calculated dose by helical tomotherapy treatment planning machine and measured dose of radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeter in lung lesions using Rando Phantom.

AIM: To examine the compatibility of the measured and calculated dose for the treatment of lung lesions by helical tomotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The administered dose was measured a total of 55 times at 22 points with a radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeter (RPLGD) inserted in the position of an anthropomorphic Rando Phantom. Two Gy were prescribed and calculated with a tomotherapy planning machine for a 3-cm diameter spherical planning target volume (PTV) created in the lung area. Compatibility (measured dose/calculated dose and σ value=(D(meas)-D(calc))/D(prescribed)) × 100 (%)) was analyzed according to dosimeter location. RESULTS: Deviations between measured and calculated doses for the lung lesion were within 4% for planning target volume, indicating that adequate dose delivery to the PTV was achievable. On the other hand, we found dose deviations up to 15% for the lower prescribed dose range (64% or less) for the measured dose/calculated comparison and a 6% deviation according to the σ value in or near inhomogeneous tissue. CONCLUSION: Although the measured dose satisfied the clinical requirement in almost all areas including PTV, we should note that there may be discrepancies between expected calculated dose and irradiated dose in or near inhomogeneous area.

Development of tritiated vapor absorbent applicable to the atmospheric detritiation system in a nuclear facility.

The combination of hydrogen oxidation reactor packed noble metal catalysts and water vapor absorber has been applied to the atmospheric detritiation system of the tritium handling facility. Commercial synthetic zeolite such as molecular sieve 5A has been used as an adsorbent of ADS absorber. In the case of application of molecular sieve 5A to the ADS absorber of a large-scale tritium handling facility such as a future fusion plant, an absorber becomes huge due mainly to the difficulty in dehydration from molecular sieve 5A. Hence, application of CaY Faujasite-type zeolite with a high framework silica-to-alumina ratio to the adsorbent for atmospheric detritiation system was investigated. It was clear that the dehydration behavior at room temperature was significantly improved using CaY zeolite. In contrast, detritiation factor for CaY zeolite with a high framework silica-to-alumina ratio depended strongly on the space velocity through the absorber. To apply CaY zeolite with a high framework SiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) ratio to the ADS absorbent, the space velocity less than 250h(-1) was recommended to maintain the detritiation factor more than 1000. The steep increase in water adsorption at the relative pressure lower than 0.05 is a feature of synthetic zeolite with calcium cation. However, such an increase was not observed in water adsorption on CaY zeolite with a framework SiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) ratio more than 7.0. Consequently, the CaY zeolite with the framework SiO(2)/Al(2)O(3) ratio of 5.0 is a promising candidate as absorbent of ADS absorber.