A model approach for tritium dynamics in wild mammals

Abstract

Tritium (3 H) transfer into environment must be modelled differently than the transfer of other radionuclides released from nuclear reactors because hydrogen represents the building blocks of life. A solid understanding of 3 H behaviour is essential because 3 H may be released in large quantities from CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactors and from future thermonuclear reactors. Recently, the authors published a complex dynamic metabolic model for 3 H and 14 C transfer in farm and wild animals, but the model applications for wild biota were restricted to too few examples and mostly for 14 C transfer. In this study, the model is applied to few selected wild animals for 3 H uptake. Despite the lack of any experimental data for wild animals, the results presented in this study are less uncertain than for many other radionuclides and can provide a useful estimation for biota radioprotection.