The reactions resulting in the tritium contamination of mineral oils in pumps during transfer of tritiumcontaining gas mixtures are examined. The basic chemical forms of tritium dissolved in oils are established. The adsorption of tritium-containing impurities of spent oils and the chemical isotopic exchange of adsorbed impurities with concentrated sulfuric acid are studied. A method for handling tritium-containing waste oils that permits decreasing the radiation hazard due to storage of these oils and recycling tritium gas is proposed on the basis of these investigations.One problem in the development of nuclear technology is salvaging organic radioactive wastes, which include spent mineral vacuum oils contaminated with tritium as a result of transfer of isotopic mixtures of hydrogen at enterprises and objects of nuclear technology. The content of tritium in oil used in diffusion and forevacuum pumps can reach 10 3 Ci/kg [1]. As a result of the high activity, such oil cannot be returned to the petroleum depot; it accumulates and is stored on the site of the works producing the wastes. In the last few years, a search has been conducted for a reliable and ecologically clean method for decontaminating tritium-containing oil wastes [2,3].Interaction of Tritium with Mineral Oils. Mineral oils used as working liquids in vacuum pumps are produced by deep purification of narrow fractions of low-sulfur petroleum. The number of classes of organic compounds comprising the main part of mineral oils is small: these are naphthene and aromatic hydrocarbons with side chains. The fraction of aromatic compounds is ordinarily small. Paraffins are also present in small quantities, and fresh oils contain no unsaturated hydrocarbons. However, the number of individual compounds in oils can reach several thousands [4].We shall examine the basic chemical reactions occurring when the pumped tritium gas comes into contact with the hydrocarbons in oils. In the absence of oxygen, the dominant process is isotopic exchange by the Wilzbach free-radical mechanism, due to β decay of one of the nuclei in a tritium molecule followed by the exchange of a free tritium radical with an organic molecule [5]: T 2 → 3 He + T; RH + T → RT + H (R is a hydrocarbon radical). Tritium radicals can also form as a result of the interaction of β radiation from tritium with T 2 molecules: T 2 → T 2 * → T + T (an asterisk denotes excited molecules). In addition, irradiation with β particles results in the formation of excited hydrocarbon molecules capable of reacting with dissolved tritium: RH → RH * ; RH * + T 2 → RT + HT. Tritium is incorporated into hydrocarbon molecules a result of these reactions.In the presence of oxygen, which enters the system unavoidably when pumps are operated, radiation-chemical oxidation of tritium (T + O 2 → OT + O; OT + T 2 → T 2 O + T) and hydrocarbons (RH * → R + H; R + O 2 → RO 2 ) occurs and

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A study of the gamma radiolysis of the aerated ethanol-water system in a wide range of compo nent concentrations has shown that the main process occurring in this system is selective radiation induced oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde. The byproducts accumulating in the liquid phase are 2,3 butanediol and formaldehyde. The selectivity of the process increases with an increase in the alcohol content and decreases with an increase in the radiation dose. A theoretical radiolysis model created in this study is in good quantitative agreement with experimental data. Calculated product buildup curves exhibit breaking points characterized by an abrupt change in the radiation chemical yield. Their origin is due to the complete burn out of oxygen in the closed system or its insufficiently rapid transfer to the liquid in the two phase liquid/gas system.