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Ohta T, Fukutani S, Kubota T, Mahara Y. Tritium concentration in the modern commercial D 2O reagents. ANAL SCI 2024:10.1007/s44211-024-00615-6. [PMID: 38862846 DOI: 10.1007/s44211-024-00615-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 06/01/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
We investigated the tritium concentration in commercial modern D2O reagents frequently used in nuclear magnetic resonance analysis for analytical chemistry and in environmental tracer testing. The concentration of tritium in 11 D2O and 1 H218O reagents ranged from 61 Bq/L (5 × 102 TU) to 2.5 × 103 Bq/L (2 × 104 TU) in order of magnitude. The tritium concentration in the D2O reagents have increased with the increasing purity of D2O. The tritium concentration in all reagents was an order of magnitude greater than that in the surface waters at the Fukushima off-site of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the accident in 2011 and in precipitation during the nuclear test era. However, the concentration of the tritium was lower than the regulatory limit for the concentration of tritium in drinking water accepted by the World Health Organization guidelines. The internal exposure effects from drinking the tritium water, which is contaminated by the tritium condensed in the reagent production processes, were negligible, even if the reagent was used in the environmental tracer test.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoko Ohta
- Department of Nuclear Technology, Nagaoka University of Technology, Nagaoka, Niigata, 940-2188, Japan.
| | - Satoshi Fukutani
- Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University, Kumatori, Osaka, 590-0494, Japan
| | - Takumi Kubota
- Agency for Health, Safety and Environment, Kyoto University, Uji City, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan
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Shen H, Guo F. Tritiated water (HTO) uptake and loss in maize plant after short-term exposure of atmospheric HTO vapor at daytime and nighttime. Appl Radiat Isot 2019; 154:108905. [PMID: 31581057 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.108905] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/25/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Maize plants were exposed to atmospheric tritiated water (HTO) in the field for 1 h during the day and night under different growth periods. The uptake of HTO vapor by leaves and tissue free water tritium (TFWT) loss in maize plants were investigated. Rate constants of uptake of HTO from the atmosphere by maize leaves were 0.10 ± 0.02-0.21 ± 0.01 h-1 during the daytime exposure and 0.035 ± 0.001-0.13 ± 0.01 h-1 in the nighttime exposure. The uptake rate tended to decrease as the exposure increased and harvest neared. At the end of exposure, the TFWT concentration was highest in the leaf and lowest in the ear, the TFWT concentration in different parts of maize varied by a factor of 3-28 for daytime release and 2-30 for nighttime release. After the end of every exposure, TFWT was lost rapidly from different maize tissues for one day and then at a much slower rate until to harvest. At harvest, the TFWT concentrations varied with different maize tissues by factors of 1-4. The decrease was by factors of 4-351 for daytime exposure and 6-605 for nighttime exposure. The reduction of TFWT varied with the exposure time by the factors of 1-10 depending on plant parts. The reduction factor was lowest in kernel. This result suggests that the HTO vapor uptake rates in maize leaves and TFWT loss rates in the ear may be lower than those in C3 plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- HuiFang Shen
- College of Arts and Sciences, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, China.
| | - Feng Guo
- College of Resources and Environment, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu, 030801, China
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Duff MC, Kuhne WW, Viner B, Swindle A, Houk AL, Chiswell S, Hunter DB, Rivera OE. Assimilation and transport of organic bound tritium in an irrigated pine forest. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2019; 21:938-949. [PMID: 31179456 DOI: 10.1039/c9em00165d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The speciation of radioactive tritium (T) in a naturally-established subtropical loblolly pine forest that has been irrigated with highly-contaminated pond water for the last 20 years is reported. This irrigation project was created to limit the underground transport of a tritium-rich plume which also contains low levels of toxic organics, metals and radionuclides such as carbon-14 (14C) from a nearby low-level waste burial ground. The levels of tritiated water (HTO) in the wood cores were not influenced by recent irrigation activities. However, the tritium levels in the last 20 years of tree growth were more than 3-fold higher than that of tritium in the older growth. This was due to recent irrigation with organic-bound tritium (OBT)-rich water and subsequent accumulation of high levels tritium as OBT relative to tissue HTO. High levels of pond irrigation water OBT resulted from biogenic processes that converted HTO to OBT. Data for 14C that were acquired for some of the forest materials indicated that the processes controlling the movement and accumulation of 14C in this system are somewhat different than that of tritium. Spectroscopic characterization of tree core tissue of <20 years in age found no explanation for the unusually wide dark growth rings. It was concluded that the trees were over-irrigated based on results from other published studies with wood from severely-flooded areas. Although HTO is indeed toxic to biota, OBT represents a relatively greater hazard to biota because it can be bioaccumulated and retained for long periods of time in living tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine C Duff
- Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC, USA 29808.
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Simek P, Kořínková T, Svetlik I, Povinec PP, Fejgl M, Malátová I, Tomaskova L, Stepan V. The valley system of the Jihlava river and Mohelno reservoir with enhanced tritium activities. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2017; 166:83-90. [PMID: 26944878 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2016.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Revised: 02/12/2016] [Accepted: 02/16/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
The Dukovany nuclear power plant (NPP Dukovany) releases liquid effluents, including HTO, to the Mohelno reservoir, located in a deep valley. Significantly enhanced tritium activities were observed in the form of non-exchangeable organically bound tritium in the surrounding biota which lacks direct contact with the water body. This indicates a tritium uptake by plants from air moisture and haze, which is, besides the uptake by roots from soil, one of the most important mechanisms of tritium transfer from environment to plants. Results of a pilot study based on four sampling campaigns in 2011-2015 are presented and discussed, with the aim to provide new information on tritium transport in the Mohelno reservoir - Jihlava River - plants ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Simek
- Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic
| | - T Kořínková
- Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic
| | - I Svetlik
- Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic; National Radiation Protection Institute, Prague, CZ-140 00, Czech Republic.
| | - P P Povinec
- Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University, Bratislava, SK-842 48, Slovak Republic
| | - M Fejgl
- National Radiation Protection Institute, Prague, CZ-140 00, Czech Republic; Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic
| | - I Malátová
- National Radiation Protection Institute, Prague, CZ-140 00, Czech Republic
| | - L Tomaskova
- Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic
| | - V Stepan
- Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute CAS, Prague, CZ-180 86, Czech Republic
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Svetlik I, Fejgl M, Malátová I, Tomaskova L. Enhanced activities of organically bound tritium in biota samples. Appl Radiat Isot 2014; 93:82-6. [DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2014.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2013] [Revised: 09/27/2013] [Accepted: 01/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Kim SB, Bredlaw M, Korolevych VY. HTO and OBT activity concentrations in soil at the historical atmospheric HT release site (Chalk River Laboratories). JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2012; 103:34-40. [PMID: 22036156 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.08.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2011] [Revised: 08/16/2011] [Accepted: 08/26/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Tritium is routinely released by the Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) nuclear facilities. Three International HT release experiments have been conducted at the CRL site in the past. The site has not been disturbed since the last historical atmospheric testing in 1994 and presents an opportunity to assess the retention of tritium in soil. This study is devoted to the measurement of HTO and OBT activity concentration profiles in the subsurface 25 cm of soil. In terms of soil HTO, there is no evidence from the past HT release experiments that HTO was retained. The HTO activity concentration in the soil pore water appears similar to concentrations found in background areas in Ontario. In contrast, OBT activity concentrations in soil at the same site were significantly higher than HTO activity concentrations in soil. Elevated OBT appears to reside in the top layer of the soil (0-5 cm). In addition, OBT activity concentrations in the top soil layer did not fluctuate much with season, again, quite in contrast with soil HTO. This result suggests that OBT activity concentrations retained the signature of the historical tritium releases.
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Affiliation(s)
- S B Kim
- Environmental Technologies Branch, Chalk River Laboratories, AECL, Chalk River, Ontario K0J1J0, Canada.
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Baglan N, Alanic G, Le Meignen R, Pointurier F. A follow up of the decrease of non exchangeable organically bound tritium levels in the surroundings of a nuclear research center. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RADIOACTIVITY 2011; 102:695-702. [PMID: 21530023 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.03.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2010] [Revised: 03/01/2011] [Accepted: 03/22/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
In the past decades limited amounts of tritium were handled on the CEA site of Bruyères le Châtel with authorised atmospheric releases. A small fraction of the tritium released entered into environmental samples under three forms: (i) as part of free water (TFWT - Tissue Free Water Tritium), or associated with organic matter in two ways; either (ii) bound to the oxygen and nitrogen atoms of the material as exchangeable organically bound tritium (E-OBT), or (iii) bound to carbon atoms as non exchangeable organically bound tritium (NE-OBT). The first two components provide only a picture of atmospheric tritium concentrations at the sampling time as they are in equilibrium with atmospheric moisture and soil humidity. Unlike these exchangeable forms, however, NE-OBT is tightly bound to the organic matter and provides an integrated record of atmospheric tritium during the growing phase of the vegetation. We mapped NE-OBT in tree leaf samples in an area of about 25×30km(2) around the centre of the CEA site and compared the results with those obtained during a previous sampling exercise in 1989. At this time, the activity levels were almost ten times higher than those observed presently in a similar area almost 20 years later which is consistent with the decrease of atmospheric releases issued from the centre. As the activity levels are now close to environmental background specific attention was also paid to the analytical procedure to ensure reliable low level NE-OBT detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Baglan
- CEA/DAM/DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France.
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