Water is a major component of living organisms, which can be 70-85% of the weight of cells. For this reason, water is a main target of ionizing radiations and plays a central role in radiobiology. Heavy ions, electrons and photons interact with water molecules; mainly by ionization and excitation. Neutrons interact with water molecules by elastic interactions, which generate recoil ions that will create ionizations and excitations in water molecules. These fast events (~10[superscript -12] s) lead to the formation of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). The ROS, in particular the hydroxyl radical (¨OH), interact with neighbour molecules such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids by chemical interaction. Microbeams can irradiate selectively either the external membrane, the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus. These studies have shown that cell survival is greatly reduced when the nucleus is irradiated, but that this is not the case when cytoplasm or cell membrane is irradiated. Thus, DNA is a very sensitive site to ionizing radiation and ROS. For this reason, DNA has long been considered the most important molecule to explain radiobiological effects such as cell death. However, this concept has been challenged recently by new experimental results that have shown that cells which have not been directly in contact with radiation are also affected. This is called the bystander effect. Further studies have shown that a group of cells and their environment reacts collectively to radiation. A hypothesis put forward to explain this radiobiological phenomenon is that a irradiated cell will secrete signalling molecules that will affect non-irradiated cells. The implicated phenomenon and molecules are poorly understood at this moment. The purpose of this work is to improve our comprehension of the phenomenon in the microsecond that follows the irradiation. To these ends, a new Monte-Carlo simulation program of water radiolysis by photons has been generated. For photons of energy <2 MeV, they interact with water mainly by Compton and photoelectric effects, which create energetic electrons in water. The created electrons are then followed by our existing programs to simulate the radiolysis of water by photons. Similarly, a new code has been built to simulate the neutrons interaction with water. This code simulates the elastic collisions of a neutron with water molecules and calculates the number and energy of recoil protons and oxygen ions. The main part of this Ph.D. work was the generation of a non-homogeneous Monte-Carlo Step-By-Step (SBS) simulation code of non-homogeneous radiation chemistry. This new program has been used successfully to simulate radiolysis of water by ions of various LET, pH, ion types ([superscript 1]H[superscript +], [superscript 4]He[superscript 2+], [superscript 12]C[superscript 6+]) and temperature. The program has also been used to simulate the dose-rate effect and the Fricke and Ceric dosimeters. More complex systems (glycine, polymer gels and HCN) have also been simulated.

Abstract : Monte Carlo simulations have proven to be very powerful techniques to study the radiolysis of water and the mechanisms underlying this radiolysis. Monte Carlo simulations particularly become important when there are no experimental results available in the literature due, for instance, to the difficulty of performing such experiments. This thesis presents a study of the radiolysis of water irradiated by different types of radiation and at various temperatures, employing Monte Carlo simulations. The first part of the thesis uses Monte Carlo simulations to elucidate the mechanisms involved in the self-radiolysis of tritiated water and to examine the importance of the effects of higher “linear energy transfer” (LET) by comparing [[superscript 3]H [beta][superscript -] radiations (mean initial energy of ~5.7 keV) with [superscript 60]Co [gamma]-rays (~1 MeV electrons). Our simulations showed that, for [superscript 3]H [beta][superscript -], we observe lower radical and higher molecular yields than in γ-radiolysis. These differences in yields are consistent with differences in the nonhomogeneous distribution of primary transient species in the two cases. Overall, our results corroborate well with previously reported work, and support a picture of [superscript 3]H [beta][superscript -] radiolysis mainly driven by the chemical action of “short tracks” of high local LET. This same trend in yields of radical and molecular products was also found under acidic conditions as well as in the aerated Fricke dosimeter. One of our main findings was that the measured Fricke yield G(Fe[superscript 3+]) could be best reproduced if a single, mean “equivalent” electron energy of ~7.8 keV were used to mimic the energy deposition by the tritium [beta][superscript -] particles (rather than the commonly used mean of ~5.7 keV), in full agreement with a previous recommendation of ICRU Report 17. The second part of this thesis investigates the radiolysis of the ceric-cerous sulfate dosimeter at elevated temperatures. In this radiolysis, H[superscript •] (or HO[subscript 2][superscript •] in the presence of oxygen) and H[subscript 2]O[subscript 2] produced by the radiolytic decomposition of water both reduce Ce[superscript 4+] ions to Ce[superscript 3+] ions, while [superscript •]OH radicals oxidize the Ce[superscript 3+] present back to Ce[superscript 4+]. Our simulations showed that the net Ce[superscript 3+] yield decreases almost linearly with increasing temperature up to ~250 °C, in excellent agreement with experiment. Above 250 °C, our model predicts that G(Ce[superscript 3+]) drops markedly with temperature until, instead of Ce[superscript 4+] reduction, Ce[superscript 3+] oxidation is observed. This drop is shown to result from the occurrence of the reaction of H[superscript •] atoms with water in the homogeneous chemical stage.//Résumé : La méthodologie de simulation Monte-Carlo s’est révélée être une très puissante technique dans l’étude des mécanismes de la radiolyse de l’eau. En particulier, la simulation Monte-Carlo se rend même plus importante quand les résultats expérimentaux ne sont pas disponibles, notamment dû aux difficultés techniques. Le mémoire actuel représente une étude sur la radiolyse de l’eau irradiée par différents rayonnements à différentes températures, en utilisant la simulation Monte-Carlo. Dans la première partie de ce mémoire, on examine les mécanismes d’auto-radiolyse de l’eau tritiée ainsi que l’importance de l’effet de « transfert linéaire d'énergie » (TLE) en comparant les électrons [béta][indice supérieur -] de [indice supérieur 3]H avec les rayons [béta][indice supérieur -] de [indice supérieur 60]Co. Nos simulations montrent que, pour les rayons [béta][indice supérieur -] de [indice supérieur 3]H, on observe moins de production de radicaux libres et plus de produits moléculaires. Ces différences de rendement sont en accord avec les différences de distribution non-homogène des espèces primaires transitoires dans les deux cas. En résumé, nos résultats corroborent bien avec les travaux publiés précédemment et donnent une perspective de la radiolyse [béta][indice supérieur -] de [indice [supérieur 3]H qui est en majorité contrôlée par l’action chimique de « trajectoires courtes » de TLE local élevé. La même tendance pour la production des radicaux libres et des produits moléculaires a été trouvée en milieu acide ainsi que pour le dosimètre aéré de Fricke. Un de nos résultats principaux montre que le rendement G(Fe[indice supérieur 3+]) du dosimètre de Fricke peut être mieux reproduit si une seule énergie électronique moyenne « équivalente » de ~7.8 keV est utilisée pour mimer la déposition d’énergie par les particules [béta][indice supérieur -] du tritium (au lieu de la valeur moyenne de ~5.7 keV qui est utilisée fréquemment). Ceci est en complet accord avec une recommandation du rapport 17 de l’ICRU. La deuxième partie de ce mémoire concerne la radiolyse du dosimètre au sulfate cérique-céreux à températures élevées. Lors de cette radiolyse, H[indice supérieur •] (ou HO[indice inférieur 2][indice supérieur •] en présence d’oxygène) et H[indice inférieur 2]O[indice inférieur 2] produits par la décomposition radiolytique de l’eau réduisent les ions cériques Ce[indice supérieur 4+] en ions céreux Ce[indice supérieur 3+], tandis que les radicaux [indice supérieur •]OH oxydent Ce[indice supérieur 3+] en Ce[indice supérieur 4+]. Nos simulations montrent que le rendement G (Ce[indice supérieur 3+]) décroît quasi linéairement avec la température entre 25 et 250 ° C, en excellent accord avec l’expérience . Au-dessus de 250 °C, notre modèle prédit une diminution marquée de G (Ce[indice supérieur 3+]) jusqu’à ce qu’on l’observe, au lieu d’une réduction de Ce[indice supérieur 4+], une oxydation de Ce[indice supérieur 3+]. Nous montrons que cette diminution est due à l’intervention de la réaction des atomes H[indice supérieur •] avec l’eau en milieu homogène.