METHOD FOR RAPID TRITIATED-WATER EXTRACTION FROM ENVIRONMENTAL-SAMPLES

We have developed a thermal vacuum desorption process to rapidly extra ct water from environmental samples for tritium analysis. Thermal vacu um desorption allows for extraction of the moisture from the sample wi thin a few hours in a form and quantity suitable far liquid scintillat ion counting and allows detection of tritium at the levels of <2 Bq/l of milk, <0.5 Bq/g of vegetation, and <0.5 Bq/g of soil. We developed a prototype unit that can process batches of twenty or more samples wi thin 24 hours. Early data shows that a high percentage of water is ext racted reproducibly without enrichment or depletion of the tritium con tent. The quench coefficient of the extracted water is low allowing fo r accurate, direct liquid scintillation counting. In most samples, goo d comparison has been observed with results using freeze-dry lyophiliz ation as the water extraction method.