Tritium accident containment within a large fusion enclosure: cost, benefit, and risk considerations
Containment of a tritium accident within a large fusion device building will be difficult and costly. Complete containment is impossible, and with this fact in mind, the global dispersion and health effects of tritium are reviewed. Atmospheric tritium emissions lead to an estimated population dose to the Northern Hemisphere of 5.6 x 10/sup -3/ man-rem/Ci, which may also be interpreted as 1 cancer fatality per MCi. Updating the NRC $1000 per man-rem criterion to 1982 costs gives 9.5 $/y per Ci/y as the unit annual health benefit rate from averting tritium release at a continuous rate. Present worth considerations lead to an estimate of $100 per Ci/y for the maximum capital investment justified per expected curie per year of tritium release averted. A simplified enclosure model is used to explore the trade-off between processing capacity and recycle time with the health cost of residual tritium release included in the analysis.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 6409180
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-88932; CONF-830325-1; ON: DE83009318
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: US/Japan workshop of tritium handling, Los Alamos, NM, USA, 21 Mar 1983
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
THERMONUCLEAR REACTORS
RADIATION HAZARDS
TRITIUM
ACCIDENTS
CONTAINMENT
HEALTH HAZARDS
BUILDINGS
COST
HAZARDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIOISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
700206* - Fusion Power Plant Technology- Environmental Aspects