Chemical Kinetics in H2O and D2O Under Hydrothermal Conditions

Abstract

Muonium (Mu = u+e−) is a light analogue of the H-atom. Studies of Mu chemical kinetics have been extended to supercritical water, a medium in some designs of future generation nuclear reactors. The Supercritical-Water-Cooled Reactor (SCWR) would operate at higher temperatures than current pressurized water-cooled reactors, and the lack of knowledge of water radiolysis under supercritical conditions constitutes a technology gap for SCWR development. Accurate modeling of chemistry in a SCWR requires data on kinetics of reactions involved in the radiolysis of water. In this paper, we first review our measurements of kinetics in H2O and then describe new data for D2O under sub- and supercritical conditions.