ESTIMATES OF ROUTINE TRITIUM DISCHARGES FROM ETHEL

The European Tritium Handling Experimental Laboratory (ETHEL) at JRC-I spra is constructed within the ESSOR reactor complex and is therefore required to be consistent with the existing site license agreement. Th is paper summarizes the status of ETHEL under the Italian licensing le gislation and focuses, in particular, on the problem of tritium discha rges under routine conditions. First, the available margins for additi onal tritium releases from the ESSOR complex are established by taking into account the existing operational requirements. The discharge req uirements of ETHEL are then estimated by analyzing the various in-plan t routes by which tritium may be released to the environment under nor mal operation conditions. An analysis is also undertaken for assessing the radiological impact on the population due to exposure and ingesti on pathways. It is shown that the expected gaseous releases and tritia ted aqueous discharges comply comfortably with the existing site limit s and the fraction available for ETHEL.