Corroborative studies of tritium characterization and depth profiles in concrete

Technical Report · Fri May 05 04:00:00 EDT 2000

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/754652· OSTI ID:754652

Hochel, R C

This report is the second by the authors on characterizing the tritium content of cement and structural concrete. The first report reviewed the literature and used several new methods to characterize tritium on the surface and through the bulk of contaminated concrete at two facilities at the U.S. Department of Energy Savannah River Site (SRS). In both cases, a relatively constant tritium concentration as a function of depth was observed, which has not been previously reported in the literature. These findings were explained as the relatively rapid transport of tritiated liquid through pores of the hydrated cement, and the exchange of tritium with hydrogen found primarily as free and bound water in the hydrated cement binder. The study reported here extended the measurement of surface and bulk tritium in concrete to three other locations at SRS. The purpose of the current study was to characterize locations whose tritium exposure histories were well documented, and to characterize a location exposed exclusively to gaseous tritium, to confirm and possibly extend the knowledge gained from the earlier study. Results of the current study corroborate the earlier findings, in that the tritium concentration was constant through the bulk when exposed to aqueous tritium, even from a single aqueous tritium exposure. Exposure to gaseous tritium, on the other hand, lead to the well-known diffusion controlled variation of tritium concentration reported in the literature. Sufficient exposure history is available to enable a semi-quantitative explanation of the magnitude and depth dependence of the tritium in both the aqueous- and gas-exposed locations. The penetration of tritium from a liquid can be described by a hydraulic flow model, and gaseous tritium permeates in a diffusive manner. The general correlation of properly measured surface tritium activity to that in the underlying bulk found in the earlier study was confirmed. However, the surface and near surface tritium concentration is sensitive to changing humidity conditions and other surface and environmental effects, so the correlation may be only approximate in specific cases.

• Research Organization: Savannah River Site (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: US Department of Energy (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC09-96SR18500
• OSTI ID: 754652
• Report Number(s): WSRC-TR-2000-00021
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
CEMENTS
CONCRETES
CONTAMINATION
DEPTH
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
TRITIUM
TRITIUM OXIDES