Tritium practices past and present

Abstract

History of the production and use of tritium, as well as handling techniques, are reviewed. Handling techniques first used at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory made use of glass vacuum systems and relatively crude ion chambers for monitoring airborne activity. The first use of inert atmosphere glove boxes demonstrated that uptake through the skin could be a serious personnel exposure problem. Growing environmental concerns in the early 1970's resulted in the implementation by the Atomic Energy Commission of a new criteria to limit atmospheric tritium releases to levels as low as practicable. An important result of the new criteria was the development of containment and recovery systems to capture tritium rather than vent it to the atmosphere. The Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, Tritium Research Laboratory containment and decontamination systems are presented as a typical example of this technology. The application of computers to control systems is expected to provide the greatest potential for change in future tritium handling practices.