The requirement for proper storage of nuclear and related decommissioning samples to safeguard accuracy of tritium data

Kim, Daeji; Croudace, Ian W.; Warwick, Phillip E.

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2012.01.094

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…This suggests occurrence of some irreversible or lower-kinetics phenomena capable of limiting the diffusion of HTO out of samples when degrees of saturation are low enough. Takata et al [13], Furuichi et al [14] and Kim et al [17] explained that exchange reactions between structural water in HCP and HTO could lead to some irreversible HTO uptake in HCP. However, these authors did not specify any saturation degree under which these phenomena could take place.…”

Section: Hto Diffusion Data Using Vapor Exchange Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Secondly, tritiated water can occur under both liquid and vapor forms in unsaturated cement-based materials used in several types of nuclear facilities, e.g. near-surface disposal facilities, fusion reactor or tritium handling facility [13][14][15][16][17]. Under these conditions, further investigations are thus necessary to determine if HTO diffusion rates are as high as gas diffusive rates [6] or as low as the ionic solutes ones [4] when dehydrating.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How mobile is tritiated water through unsaturated cement-based materials? New insights from two complementary approaches

Savoye

Rajyaguru

Macé

et al. 2018

Applied Radiation and Isotopes

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This work presents a novel approach to study tritiated water (HTO) diffusion through unsaturated cement-based materials (hardened CEM V/A cement pastes). The diffusion studies were performed under hydric conditions covering those that can prevail in near-surface disposal facilities for short-lived nuclear waste. In order to investigate the required large range of suction, two complementary techniques were developed. The first technique was based on a through-diffusion method where suction (up to 9 MPa) was controlled using osmosis process. In the second technique diffusion experiments were performed in humidity chambers controlled by under-saturated saline solutions (suction up to 170 MPa). Tritiated water (HTO) was added in the saline solution and diffused through the studied material in gas form. This latter method showed that the extent of irreversible HTO uptake on cement-based materials increased with desaturation. Moreover, diffusive data acquired by means of the two techniques revealed a decrease of effective diffusion coefficient by a factor of 10 from 100% to 23% of saturation degree. Comparison with dihydrogen (HT) diffusion results suggests that HTO diffuses through unsaturated cement-based materials at rates more than 4 orders of magnitude lower.

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Section: Hto Diffusion Data Using Vapor Exchange Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How mobile is tritiated water through unsaturated cement-based materials? New insights from two complementary approaches

Savoye

Rajyaguru

Macé

et al. 2018

Applied Radiation and Isotopes

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show abstract

“…Ideally, sampler designs should be adaptable to environments with variable humidity and allow for the monitoring of comprehensive HTO dynamics in three dimensions (3D); however, established protocols provide a 2D profile on a horizontal plane. , For the sample preparation, the desorption method is considered time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it may also suffer from cross-contamination in the case of hundreds of contaminated samples awaiting preparation. Leaching 3 H-contaminated materials is a convenient approach widely utilized in nuclear decommissioning; − however, it has infrequently been considered in passive HTO monitoring frameworks due to a lack of tailored analytical protocols. Because of the above problems, the three-dimensional (3D) spatial distribution and dynamics of HTO in large reactor halls still remain unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a Novel Passive Monitoring Technique to Showcase the 3D Distribution of Tritiated Water (HTO) Vapor in Indoor Air of a Nuclear Facility

Feng,

Ibesich,

Hainz

et al. 2023

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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Tritiated water (HTO), a ubiquitous byproduct of the nuclear industry, is a radioactive contaminant of major concern for environmental authorities. Although understanding spatiotemporal heterogeneity of airborne HTO vapor holds great importance for radiological safety as well as diagnosing a reactor's status, comprehensive HTO distribution dynamics inside nuclear facilities has not been studied routinely yet due to a lack of appropriate monitoring techniques. For current systems, it is difficult to simultaneously achieve high representativeness, sensitivity, and spatial resolution. Here, we developed a passive monitoring scheme, including a newly designed passive sampler and a tailored analytical protocol for the first comprehensive 3D distribution characterization of HTO inside a nuclear reactor facility. The technique enables linear sampling in any environment at a one-day resolution and simultaneous preparation of hundreds of samples within 1 day. Validation experiments confirmed the method's good metrological properties and sensitivity to the HTO's spatial dynamics. The air in TU Wien's reactor hall exhibits a range of 3 H concentrations from 75−946 mBq m −3 in the entire 3D matrix. The HTO release rate estimated by the mass-balance model (3199 ± 306 Bq h −1 ) matches the theoretical calculation (2947 ± 254 Bq h −1 ), suggesting evaporation as the dominant HTO source in the hall. The proposed method provides reliable and quality-controlled 3D monitoring at low cost, which can be adopted not only for HTO and may also inspire monitoring schemes of other indoor pollutants.

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“…Tritium is one of the radionuclides often encountered in the nuclear industry, especially under the form of tritiated water [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely disseminated in low-level and intermediate-level radioactive waste [1]. This is one of the reasons why tritium is also the tracer chosen to assess the confinement ability of matrices for nuclear waste storage [3][4][5][6][7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tritium through-diffusion test in non steady state: Can the effective diffusion coefficient be determined?

Wattez¹,

Duhart-Barone²,

Lorente³

2015

Construction and Building Materials

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The requirement for proper storage of nuclear and related decommissioning samples to safeguard accuracy of tritium data

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

How mobile is tritiated water through unsaturated cement-based materials? New insights from two complementary approaches

How mobile is tritiated water through unsaturated cement-based materials? New insights from two complementary approaches

Development of a Novel Passive Monitoring Technique to Showcase the 3D Distribution of Tritiated Water (HTO) Vapor in Indoor Air of a Nuclear Facility

Tritium through-diffusion test in non steady state: Can the effective diffusion coefficient be determined?

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