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Gamma-Ray Irradiation and Contact with High-Alkalinity Sludge: Stability Studies of Mercury Fulminate
Volume 151 · Number 3 · September 2005 · Pages 297-302
Technical Paper · Radioisotopes
F. F. Fondeur, W. R. Wilmarth, T. B. Peters, S. D. Fink
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The stability of mercury fulminate under gamma-ray irradiation and in a high-alkalinity sludge environment was determined. Both differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize mercury fulminate. Mercury fulminate completely decomposed in a gamma-ray source (0.86 Mrad/h) after a dose of 208 Mrad. This exposure equates to ~2.4 to 4 yr in Savannah River Site tanks. Mercury fulminate decomposed in contact with high-alkalinity wet sludge. This study suggests that any mercury fulminate or closely related energetic species decomposed long ago if it ever formed in the tank farm.
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