Facility for Removal and Determination of Labile Tritium

C.S. Tuta, C. Postolache, V. Fugaru, G. Bubueanu, S. Manea, S. Bercea Horia Hulubei National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30, Reactorului St., Magurele, Romania

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Tritium bonded to electrophilic atoms like O, S, N or halogens can spontaneously exchange places with hydrogen from the water. These tritium species are exchanged even at a very low temperature and have the generic name `labile'. In this paper, a new facility for the removal and quantitative determination of labile tritium is shown. The working principle is as follows: tritium sources are brought in contact with protic solvent, leading to a spontaneous exchange of labile tritium, then the obtained tritiated solvent is extracted by distillation. The new facility was tested for removal efficiency of labile tritium from labeled compounds and wastes with different compositions.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.127.895 PACS numbers: 66.30.jp