Effect of gamma-ray irradiation on the deoxygenation of salt-containing water using hydrazine

In spent fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, hydrazine was added to salt-containing water in order to reduce dissolved oxygen. Hydrazine is known to reduce dissolved oxygen in high-temperature pure water, but its deoxygenation behavior in salt-containing water at ambient temperature in the presence of radiation is unknown. Deoxygenation using hydrazine in salt-containing water was thus investigated using a ⁶⁰Co gamma-ray source and artificial seawater at room temperature. Water samples containing a small amount of hydrazine were irradiated at dose rates of 100–10,000 Gy/h. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water samples was measured before and after irradiation. Notably, a decrease in the dissolved oxygen was only observed after irradiation, and the dissolved oxygen concentration decreased with increasing dose rate and irradiation time. The rate of decrease in the amount of dissolved oxygen using hydrazine was slow in the presence of salts. Kinetic considerations suggested that the deoxygenation of the salt-containing water exposed to gamma-ray irradiation using hydrazine was suppressed by chloride ions.