Abstract
AbstractThe present study has been aimed for the assessment of isotope element Tritium (3H). It is a great threat to human health and environment for lengthy duration. The tritium exists in earth in diverse forms such as (1) small amounts of natural tritium are produced by alpha decay of lithium-7, (2) natural atmospheric tritium is also generated by secondary neutron cosmic ray bombardment of nitrogen, (3) atmospheric nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s, although the contribution from nuclear power plants is small. Tritium or 3H is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.32 ± 0.02 years. Water samples from ground water, surface water, and precipitation were collected from different locations in Gujarat area and were analyzed for the same. Distillation of samples was done to reduce the conductivity. Deuterium and Hydrogen were removed by the process of physico-chemical fractionation in the tritium enrichment unit. The basis of physico-chemical fractionation is the difference in the strength...
Highlights
Tritium (T) or 3H is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of 12.32 ± 0.02 years, decays to 3He emitting a beta particle having a radiation energy of 0.0057 MeV
Because most of tritium is disseminated in the environment as water, it enters the hydrologic cycle as precipitation and eventually becomes concentrated in levels detectable in groundwater
Natural atmospheric tritium is generated by secondary neutron cosmic ray bombardment of nitrogen
Summary
Tritium (T) or 3H is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen (having two neutrons and one proton) with a half-life of 12.32 ± 0.02 years, decays to 3He emitting a beta particle having a radiation energy of 0.0057 MeV. One TU is defined as the presence of one tritium in 1018 atoms of hydrogen (H). Small amount of natural tritium is produced by alpha decay of lithium-7 (Kumar & Somashekar, 2011). Natural atmospheric tritium is generated by secondary neutron cosmic ray bombardment of nitrogen. Tritium atoms combine with oxygen, forming water that subsequently falls as precipitation. Prior to atmospheric nuclear bomb testing in the 1950s, tritium’s natural average concentration ranged from approximately 2–8 TU. Since cessation of atmospheric nuclear tests, tritium concentrations have dropped between 12 and 15 TU, (Blavoux et al, 2013) small contributions from nuclear power plants occur. Because most of tritium is disseminated in the environment as water, it enters the hydrologic cycle as precipitation and eventually becomes concentrated in levels detectable in groundwater
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