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Tritium (from Ancient Greek τρίτος (trítos) 'third') or hydrogen-3 (symbol T or 3 H) is a rare and radioactive isotope of hydrogen with a half-life of ~12.3 years. The tritium nucleus (t, sometimes called a triton) contains one proton and two neutrons, whereas the nucleus of the common isotope hydrogen-1 (protium) contains one proton and no neutrons, and that of non-radioactive hydrogen ...
Tritium excretion can be accelerated further by increasing water intake to 3–4 liters/day. [11] Direct, short-term exposure to small amounts of tritium is mostly harmless. If a tritium tube breaks, one should leave the area and allow the gas to diffuse into the air. Tritium exists naturally in the environment, but in very small quantities.
The additional radioactivity in the biosphere caused by human activity due to the releases of man-made radioactivity and of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) can be divided into several classes. Normal licensed releases which occur during the regular operation of a plant or process handling man-made radioactive materials.
A barn owl ate those rodents and had 740 times more tritium concentration in its body than the U.S. drinking water standard, the common reference value for indicating tritium contamination.
Tritium can be contained in water released from a nuclear plant. The primary concern for tritium release is its presence in drinking water, in addition to biological magnification leading to tritium in crops and animals consumed for food. [28] Legal concentration limits of tritium have differed greatly from place to place (see table right).
A quantity of radioactive waste typically consists of a number of radionuclides, which are unstable isotopes of elements that undergo decay and thereby emit ionizing radiation, which is harmful to humans and the environment. Different isotopes emit different types and levels of radiation, which last for different periods of time.
The presence of radioactive waste in the environment may cause long-term effects due to the activity and half-life of the radionuclides, leading their impact to grow with time. [2] These particles exist in various oxidation states and are found as oxides , coprecipitates , or as organic or inorganic complexes, according to their origin and ways ...
Tritiated water is a radioactive form of water in which the usual protium atoms are replaced with tritium atoms. In its pure form it may be called tritium oxide (T 2 O or 3 H 2 O) or super-heavy water. Pure T 2 O is a colorless liquid, [1] and it is corrosive due to self-radiolysis. Diluted, tritiated water is mainly H 2 O plus some HTO (3 HOH).