Dm. Hamby et al., ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND DOSE ASSESSMENT FOLLOWING THE DECEMBER 1991 K-REACTOR AQUEOUS TRITIUM RELEASE, Health physics, 65(1), 1993, pp. 25-32
Between 22 December and 25 December 1991, approximately 570 L of triti
ated water was released from the K Reactor at the Savannah River Site.
Analyses of river flow rates and measured tritium concentrations show
ed that approximately 210 TBq of tritium had been released from the re
actor and was being transported down the Savannah River. Elevated trit
ium concentrations in the Savannah River were first detected on 26 Dec
ember 1991. The maximum measured tritium concentration at Highway 301
(a major sampling point 37 km downstream of the Savannah River Site) w
as 2.5 Bq mL-1. A hypothetical maximum individual located at Highway 3
01 would have received a drinking water dose of approximately 0.35 muS
v, less than 1% of the Environmental Protection Agency's 40 muSv y-1 d
rinking water standard. Concentrations at the intake canals to two wat
er treatment facilities, approximately 160 km downstream, began to ris
e above normal on 28 December. The population dose to users of the dow
nstream domestic water supplies and consumers of Savannah River biota
was estimated to be 4.7 x 10(-3) person-Sv.