Tritium around the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences

The spatial and temporal distributions of tritium in precipitation, river w ater, atmospheric water vapor, and air were observed in the Belgrade area o ver the period 1988-1997. Significantly higher tritium levels were measured in samples in the vicinity of the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences comp ared with off-site locations. Annual mean tritium concentrations in precipi tation ranged from 2.2 to 35.4 Bq/1, decreasing with distance from the nucl ear facilities. The annual mean release of tritium into the environment fro m heavy water reactor operations at the Vinca Institute based on precipitat ion measurements was estimated to be about 80 TBq. Data show a large variab ility of tritium concentration in the air, fluctuating in the ranges 0.27-6 0.8 Bq/m(3) air (16-2468 Bq/l-H2O) in atmospheric water vapor in which trit ium occurs as HTO and 0.04-1.05 Bq/m(3) air hue to the tritium content in a tmospheric hydrogen gas. Annual average concentrations observed for HTO and HT forms were 11.5-19.1 and 0.46-0.48 Bq/m(3) air respectively. The two da ta sets for HTO and HT are similar, suggesting a near steady state over the period of observation. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.