Sentence:  Furthermore , the exchange would not be expected to be sensitive to trace amounts of impurities because it would not be apt to <WSD>be</WSD> a chain reaction since the activation energy for abstraction of chlorine by a chlorine atom would be expected to be too high ; also it would be expected that * * f would compete very effectively with any impurities as a scavenger for * * f radicals . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)