Study of tritium nearby a regional radioactive waste storage

Abstract

The paper introduces a pilot study of tritium as an indicator of possible transfer of radionuclide contamination around a regional radioactive waste storage. The main goal of the study is to determine tritium levels (tritiated water and organically bound tritium) and compare them with radiostrontium concentration in environmental samples. A hypothesis is tested on a possibility of using tritium as a marker of possible migration ways for other radionuclides, on an example of strontium-90. The results show that tritium concentrations nearby the regional radioactive waste storage is below the detection level (7 Bq·l−1). The lowest level of tritiated water was 7±1 Bq·l−1, the highest - 78±8 Bq·l−1. For organically bound tritium, the lowest level was shown at 8±1 Bq·kg−1, the highest - 57±7 Bq·kg−1. Comparison of the tritium findings with strontium-90 radioactivity levels showed that sampling points with high levels of tritium and radiostrontium are located in the same areas.