Initial dynamic photoactive materials testing of an atmospheric chamber intended for radioactive and hazardous gases

Abstract

Radioisotopes and hazardous gases can have undetermined environmental pathways. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory constructed a chamber that complies with the requirements needed for an atmospheric reaction platform and the safety principles of interacting with hazardous dispersible sources to enable the environmental testing of these gases. Initial dynamic testing showed inter-chamber mixing completed from minutes to 1.5 h. The photooxidation of butyl iodine showed the presence of signals from reaction products and intermediaries for up to 50 h. Current detection limits of the chamber and analytical collection and testing approach were shown to be in the single-digit parts per billion levels. The comparisons between the measured oxidation trends and literature show the utility of performing laboratory experiments to validate the results of modeling for larger-scale scenarios. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory constructed and tested an atmospheric chamber that begins to demonstrate the utility of such a chamber design for the study of the atmospheric fate of especially hazardous and radioactive gases.