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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Continuous tritium effluent water monitor at the Savannah River Site

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6865647

A continuous monitor for tritium in water has been installed in the secondary cooling water effluent from the K-Reactor at the Savannah River Site (SRS). The monitor is designed to provide early detection of a small leak of the tritiated heavy water moderator and facilitate rapid isolation procedures. The tritium detector consists of an analysis cell containing 0.1--0.25 mm diameter beads of plastic scintillator interposed between two photomultiplier tubes and standard fast-slow coincidence electronics. A small portion of the effluent stream is first filtered through a series of cartridge filters (0.2 [mu]m final filter) and then chemically treated by ion exchange resin and activated charcoal before reaching the cell. Flow through the detector is [approx]3 mL/min. The tritium effluent water monitor (TEWM) will alarm if the tritium in the outfall exceeds 56 Bq/mL during a 10 minute counting interval. The installation and performance of the TEWM are discussed.

Research Organization:
Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC09-89SR18035
OSTI ID:
6865647
Report Number(s):
WSRC-MS-92-163; CONF-9209261--1; ON: DE93002157
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English