Advanced Radioactive Material Removal System by Silver Zeolite (7) Evaluation of Noble Gas Adsorption Characteristics

Abstract It is well known that it is difficult to remove noble gases generated during a nuclear accident. Currently, a noble gas holdup system made from activated carbon is being used. However, activated carbon has many shortcomings, such as flammability, non-moisture resistance, small absorption capacity et al. We have developed a new silver zeolite, “XeA,” as a noble gas adsorbent. The evaluation result shows that the holding time of this new absorbent for xenon is 480 minutes in dry air. This result is 80 times longer than that of activated carbon. Due to its excellent adsorption characteristics, it is expected to replace activated carbon in the vent system. For this reason, there is a possibility that the volume of the existing system using activated carbon can be reduced to 1/80. Meanwhile, we also propose a system combining this XeA with a filter that does not transmit xenon.