Oxidation and accumulation of molecular hydrogen in a beryllium-water system upon radiation thermal treatment

The kinetics of radiation thermal oxidation of beryllium with water vapor and the accumulation of molecular hydrogen in a Be-H2O system at temperatures of 473-673 K under the effect of gamma radiation is studied. The oxidation is shown to proceed according to a parabolic law and be limited by diffusion. A sharp change (by a factor of 16) in the formation rate of molecular hydrogen and an increase in its concentration by an exponent depending on the oxidation degree and defectiveness of beryllium plates is observed and confirmed by AFM images. The activation energies of the formation of hydrogen are estimated as E (a) = 12 and 34 kJ/mol.