Overview of the 1994 chronic HT release experiment at Chalk River

Journal Article · Sun Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · Fusion Technology

OSTI ID:196721

Davis, P A; Workman, W J.G. ^[1]; Amiro, B D ^[2]; Spencer, F S ^[3]; Noguchi, H; Amano, H ^[4]; Ichimasa, Y; Ichimasa, M ^[5]

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1. Chalk River Labs. (Canada)
2. Whiteshell Labs., Pinawa (Canada)
3. Ontario Hydro Technologies, Toronto (Canada)
4. Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Ibaraki (Japan)
5. Ibaraki Univ. (Japan)

Trace amounts of tritiated hydrogen (HT) were released continuously to the atmosphere at Chalk River Laboratories over the 12-day period 1994 July 27 to August 8. Scientists from eight institutions in four countries took extensive air, soil and vegetation samples to study the dynamics of tritiated water (HTO) and organically-bound tritium (OBT) formation, and the environmental concentrations of these compounds at steady-state. The short-term HT air concentrations varied strongly in time and space over the test area, but the variation decreased rapidly as the averaging time increased. HTO concentrations in soil, vegetation and air built up gradually over time but they fluctuated substantially with ambient meteorological conditions, particularly rainfall. OBT concentrations in plants increased throughout the period. HTO concentrations were at or near steady-state at the end of the release, but OBT levels were continuing to rise. 8 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

• OSTI ID: 196721
• Report Number(s): CONF-950506--
• Journal Information: Fusion Technology, Journal Name: Fusion Technology Journal Issue: 3 pt 1 Vol. 28; ISSN 0748-1896; ISSN FUSTE8
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AIR POLLUTION
CHALK RIVER
CHALK RIVER NUCLEAR LABS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
LAND POLLUTION
SAMPLING
SOILS
TESTING
TRITIUM OXIDES