The development of a versatile field program for measuring tritium in real-time

Conference · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:10158725

Rego, J H; Smith, D K

Robust sample handling and liquid scintillation counting procedures have been developed to routinely monitor tritium in the field relative to the 20,000 pCi/L drinking water standard. This procedure allows tritium to be monitored hourly during 24 hour drilling operations at depths in the saturated zone potentially contaminated by sub-surface nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site. Using retrofitted shock hardened and vibration damped counters and strict analytical protocols, tritium may be measured rapidly in the field under hostile conditions. Concentration standards and ``dead`` tritium backgrounds are prepared weekly in a central laboratory and delivered to remote monitoring locations where they are recounted daily as a check on counter efficiency and calibration. Portable counters are located in trailers and powered off a battery pack and line filter fed by mobile generator. Samples are typically ground-waters mixed with drilling fluids returned after circulation through a drill string. Fluids are aerated and ``de-foamed,`` filtered, mixed with scintillation cocktail and subsequently dark-adapted before counting. Besides meeting regulatory requirements, ``real-time`` monitoring affords drilling and field personnel maximum protection against potential exposure to radionuclides; for routine operations, tritium activities may not exceed a 10,000 pCi/L threshold.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 10158725
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC--115344; CONF-940401--13; ON: DE94013241
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540230
GROUND WATER
LIQUID SCINTILLATION DETECTORS
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SCINTILLATION COUNTING
TRITIUM