Abstract
To estimate the tritium doses of the residents living in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant, urine samples of 34 adults were collected from residents living near the Qinshan nuclear power plant. The tritium-in-urine (HTO plus OBT) was measured by liquid scintillation counting. The doses of tritium-in-urine from participants living at 2, 10 and 22 km were in a range of 1.26–6.73 Bq/L, 1.31–3.09 Bq/L and 2.21–3.81 Bq/L, respectively, while the average activity concentrations of participants from the three groups were 3.53 ± 1.62, 2.09 ± 0.62 and 2.97 ± 0.78 Bq/L, respectively. The personal committed effective doses for males were 2.5 ± 1.7 nSv and for females they were 2.9 ± 1.3 nSv. These results indicate that tritium concentrations in urine samples from residents living at 2 km from a nuclear power plant are significantly higher than those at 10 km. It may be the downwind direction that caused a higher dose in participants living at 22 km. All the measured doses of tritium-in-urine are in a background level range.
Highlights
Release of tritium into the environment from heavy water reactor operation is increasing the concentrations of tritium in the atmospheric water vapor and tritium occurs in the form of tritiated water vapor (HTO) and TH [1,2] that can been inhaled and absorbed by breathing and skin exposure
The coefficient of variation (CV) of tritium concentration in urine is in the range of 13% to 29% as the tritium concentration in urine is greater than the minimum detectable concentration (MDC)
The concentration of tritiumin-urine was ranged from limited detection concentration (LDC) to 6.73 Bq/L, its CV was 13–29% for greater than the detection limit (MDC = 2.52 Bq/L)
Summary
Release of tritium into the environment from heavy water reactor operation is increasing the concentrations of tritium in the atmospheric water vapor and tritium occurs in the form of tritiated water vapor (HTO) and TH [1,2] that can been inhaled and absorbed by breathing and skin exposure. The distribution of tritium in precipitation and river water are important sources for human exposure. The HTO and TH can quickly form free water tritium (FWT) and organically bound tritium (OBT) which are distributed in the tissues and organs in the uniform manner [3]. Internal radiation dose in occupationally exposed workers, while residents around NPPs is 26%–50%, and the origin of OBT in body is dietary intake. Monitoring the concentration of HTO and OBT in urine is important for the dose assessment of exposure to tritium. The concentrations of tritiumin-urine (HTO plus OBT) from 34 participants living in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant were measured and the annual effective doses of exposure to tritium were evaluated as well
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