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Effects of Radiation on the Oxidation Potential of Salt Brine

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Abstract

Two different types of experiments have shown that alpha and gamma radiation each increase the redox potential of salt brines. Other experiments have shown that the decrease in potential indicated by platinum electrodes in irradiated brines is due to the response of the electrodes to the hydrogen generated from the resulting water decomposition. Platinum electrodes indicated no change in redox potential of solutions containing equimolar concentrations of K3Fe(CN)5 and K4Fe(CN)5 when they were gamma irradiated in quartz containers; when stainless steel containers were used, the solutions reacted with the stainless steel but gamma radiation had no significant effect on that reaction or the solution composition. A gamma radiation dose rate of 2.4 × 104 rad/h measurably increased the uniform corrosion rate of mild steel in salt brines at 75°C, but at 150°C the increased thermal corrosion rate obscured any effect of even higher gamma radiation dose rates.

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  1. Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, 99352, Richland, WA, USA

    W. J. Gray

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  1. W. J. Gray
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Gray, W.J. Effects of Radiation on the Oxidation Potential of Salt Brine. MRS Online Proceedings Library 112, 405–413 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-112-405

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/PROC-112-405

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