Improved technique for the routine determination of tritiated water in aqueous samples

Abstract

A straightforward technique involving sub-boiling distillation has been developed for the purification of river and effluent water samples prior to the determination of tritium ( 3 H ) by liquid scintillation analysis. The study evaluates the efficiency of sub-boiling distillation for decontaminating mixed β/γ emitters which could interfere with the tritium determination. The technique effectively purifies tritiated water in aqueous samples from the major contaminating radioisotopes including 22 Na , 54 Mn , 60 Co , 65 Zn , 88 Y , 137 Cs and 155 Eu . However, the technique requires less analyst set-up and supervision time than conventional distillation techniques and larger sample batches can therefore be routinely analysed. Recent improvements to the design of the sub-boiling unit and applications of the unit are also discussed.