Enhanced activities of organically bound tritium in biota samples

Occurrence of organically bound tritium in the Mohelno lake system

“…3). Tritium activities in water and air moisture samples recorded in this study were by more than one order of magnitude higher than the background values (which were below 2 Bq/l, [17]). The fact that the plant material from the vicinity of the Mohelno reservoir, where the liquid effluents from the Dukovany NPP are released, has enhanced tritium activity levels in NE-OBT has already been found within the frame of our previous pilot study.…”

“…By contrast, in the Jihlava river below the dam of the reservoir, the tritiated waters are already diluted and also partly depleted in HTO, which has been drained from the ''loop'' to the cooling towers and evaporated into the atmosphere. This view is supported by the actual HTO activity levels in water from our sampling sites Mohelno reservoir-tritium monitoring in surface water (diamonds) and in technology water from the NPP (squares) [17] as well as by the long-term monitoring. Second, the tritium in the form of HTO can enter into plant tissues not only from soil (in association with water uptake by the roots), but to a varying extent also from air moisture through stomata in the aerial parts (namely leaves) of the plant [6].…”

“…Subsequently, in 2011, the levels of NE-OBT activities were determined in various plants sampled from the waterside of the Mohelno reservoir and the Jihlava river [17]. These pilot results indicated significantly elevated tritium activity levels in plant tissues from both localities, as compared to background samples collected at larger distances (35-95 km from the NPP).…”

Tritium concentration in soybean plants exposed to atmospheric HTO during nighttime and daytime

“…Tritium can enter the body by ingestion of foods containing tritium and can also be drunk, inhaled, and absorbed through the skin if tritiated water (HTO) is present [1][2][3]. It pre-dominantly exists under the form of water and is widely dispersed in the environment [4][5][6][7][8][9]. In order to estimate the risks for humans due to environmental tritium, it is necessary to understand the behavior of tritium in different ecological compartments.…”