Tritium Concentration and Diffusion in Seawater Discharged from Tokai Reprocessing Plant

Abstract

The Tokai Reprocessing Plant has reprocessed the total amount of 1,140 tons of spent fuels since 1977 to the end of fiscal year 2008. During the operation, radioactive liquid effluent has been discharged into the sea from the outlet of the pipeline after the discharge approval. The amount of 3 H discharged to the sea was 4.5 PBq in total. Therefore, since 1978, JAEA has sampled seawater around the outlet every month. Tritium concentrations in seawater were analyzed and measured using a liquid scintillation counter. All data were used to calculate the dilution factor which means the ratio of the 3 H concentration in seawater to that in liquid effluent. The number of 3 H samples with concentrations below the detection limit was 9,079 (82.0 %) and the number of those from the limit to 40 Bq/L (as quantification limit) was 1,964 (17.7 %). The maximum concentration was 1,700 Bq/L at the point just above the outlet in 1979. Moreover, the dilution factors were ranged between 240 and 6,500,000. All 3 H concentrations in water were confirmed to be below 60,000 Bq/L that was specified by the law and there has been no concern about environmental safety risk.

Sources of tritium in natural-technogenic systems

“…Із заводу з перероблення ядерного палива «Sellafield» (Великобританія) щороку у гідросферу надходить приблизно 8 г (2,9 · 10 15 Бк · рік -1 ) тритію. На заводі «Tokai Reprocessing Plant», Японія, за період з 1977 до 2008 р. при переробленні 1140 тонн використаного палива було напрацьовано 4,5 · 10 15 Бк (12,5 г) тритію, який було скинуто в море (Kokubun et al 2011), що призвело до підвищення концентрації тритію у морській воді до 1700 Бк · дм -3 .…”

Impact of the Fukushima Accident on 3H and 14C Environmental Levels: A Review of Ten Years of Investigation

“…The steady-state worldwide inventory of natural 3 H was calculated to be ~2.2 EBq [ 10 ], which is less than the nondecayed amount generated during the nuclear weapons testing era in the previous century (~6.0 EBq) [ 11 ]. Other sources, such as nuclear accidents, nuclear fuel reprocessing, and operations of nuclear power plants, can be considered minor and may have influence only on the local or regional scale [ 12 , 13 , 14 ]. Whether it is produced by a natural or anthropogenic process, tritium dominantly enters the environment in the form of water (HTO) or gas (T 2 ).…”