Environmental tritium related to normal operational stage of the candu nuclear power plant at Cernavoda, Romania

The constructive conception of a NPP based on CANDU reactor makes this means of producing electricity to be the so-called 'environmental friendly' system, with a minimal impact on the people and environment. However, some small amounts of tritium are released in the environment during routine operations of the reactor as controlled emissions in gaseous and liquid effluents. Consequently, continuous releases of tritium in the course of time will determine the increase of its concentration in different compartments of the environment and the dispersion from the immediate vicinity of the nuclear objective to longer distances. The work presents the results of an environmental survey carried out at Cernavoda, in the vicinity of the exclusion zone, and in an area belonging to the long-term protective action planning zone at Basarabi, at 8 and 9 years (period 2004-2005) elapsed since the NPP was put into operation. Tritium concentration measurements on surface water. water vapours from air and extracted water from soil and vegetation (spontaneous and cultivated) show for Cernavoda area levels exceeding with a maximum two orders of magnitude those from the pre-operational period of the NPP while tritium in the Basarabi area still remained at the level of regional background.