Tritium (3H) as a tracer for monitoring the dispersion of conservative radionuclides discharged by the Angra dos Reis nuclear power plants in the Piraquara de Fora Bay, Brazil

Abstract

Presently, two nuclear power plants operate in Brazil. Both are located at Itaorna beach, Angra dos Reis, approximately 133 km from Rio de Janeiro city. The reactor cooling circuits require the input of seawater, which is later discharged through a pipeline into the adjacent Piraquara de Fora Cove. The radioactive effluents undergo ion-exchange treatment prior to their release in batches, causing the enrichment of 3H relative to other radionuclides in the discharged waters. Under steady state conditions, the 3H gradient in the Piraquara de Fora waters can be used to determine the dependence of the dilution factor on the distance from the discharge point. The present work describes experiments carried out at the reactor site during batch release episodes, including time series sampling at the discharge point and surface seawater sampling every 250 m to a distance of 1250 m, after a double distillation, the 3H concentration was measured by liquid scintillation counting applying a Quantulus liquid scintillation spectrometer. The obtained results showed a linear relationship between the 3H concentration and distance from the discharge point. At 1250 m from the discharge point a dilution index of 1:15 was measured which fits the expected value based on modeling.