MONITORING OF GROUNDWATER CONTAMINATION WITH TRITIUM AFTER A RADIATION ACCIDENT AT A RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL SITE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33042/2522-1809-2024-3-184-46-52Keywords:
radioactive waste disposal site, radiation accident, tritium, aquifers, monitoring, environmental safetyAbstract
The article analyses the data of long-term monitoring of the level of tritium contamination of groundwater in the area of the radioactive waste disposal site. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, a soft beta emitter. The impressive effect of tritium is due to the biological significance of the molecules into which it incorporates. Radioactive waste storage facilities store a lot of tritium-rich radioactive waste of various origins, a potential tritium source entering the natural environment. Any tritium released appears as tritium water (water that contains tritium in its molecules). Nowadays, the problem of tritium contamination of water ecosystems in the radioactive waste storage facilities’ areas can be considered one of the main issues in radioecology. The study aims to assess the level of safety of underground water in the radioactive waste disposal site area by the level of tritium content based on long-term monitoring data.
The object of the study was the content of tritium in the underground water of the first aquifer in the territory of the radioactive waste disposal site (strict regime zone, sanitary and protective zone, and in underground waters of wells outside and in surface water bodies of the natural environment). We tested the tritium activity in water samples using the Triathler 425-034 liquid scintillation radiometer.
In 1997, a radiation accident occurred at the radioactive waste disposal site. It led to the penetration of tritium into the first aquifer. Work has been underway to eliminate the accident. Modernisation of the system of wells for monitoring the underground water tritium contamination level also took place. As a result of the performed works, the radiation situation in the accident area has stabilised, and contamination of the aquifer due to the inflow of surface contaminated water from radioactive waste storage facilities has completely stopped.
The results of long-term monitoring of tritium content in water of boreholes and wells and natural objects (reservoirs) located outside the sanitary protection zone of the enterprise showed that 27 years after the radiation accident, the radiation situation in the studied area is stable. The total activity of tritium in the aquifer of the monitoring wells is decreasing and has now reached the regulatory level in all but three wells. The concentration of tritium in underground waters (wells) and surface waters (reservoirs) outside the sanitary and protective zone has never exceeded the environmentally safe level during the monitoring period. At present, 89% of the studied monitoring sites (boreholes, natural reservoirs, wells) have tritium content that is within the environmentally safe range.
References
Pushkarov, O. V., & Sevruk, I. M. (2021). Study of tritium migration and retention mechanisms in the geological envi-ronment (by the example of the kyiv radioactive waste storage facility). Geochemistry of Technogenesis, 6(34), 45–57.
Kovalenko, O. V. (2015). Modeliuvannia mihratsii trytiiu v navkolyshnomu seredovyshchi. Matematychne modeliuvannia v ekonomitsi, (2), 51-64.
Mathur-De Vre, R., & Binet, J. (1984). Molecular aspects of tritiated water and natural water in radiation biology. Pro-gress in biophysics and molecular biology, 43(2), 161-193.
Pushkarov O.V., Pushkarova R.O., Yakovlyev Ye.O., Koltunov B.G., Pryjmachenko V.M.(2004). Atmoheomihratsiia trytiiu zi skhovyshch radioaktyvnykh vidkhodiv i yoho rozpodil u hruntovo-roslynnomu kompleksi Mineral resources of Ukraine, 1. 39-41.
Pushkarov, O. V., & Sevruk, I. M. (2023). BIOACCU-MULATION OF TRITIUM IN NATURAL AND TECHNO-LOGICAL SYSTEMS. Heokhimiia tekhnohenezu, (37), 20-25.
DYREKTYVA RADY 2013/59/IeVRATOM vid 5 hrud-nia 2013 roku pro vstanovlenym osnovnykh norm bezpeky dlia zakhystu vid zahroz, zumovlenykh vplyvom ionizuiuchoho vyprominiuvannia, i skasuvannia dyrektyv 89/618/Ievratom, 90/641/Ievratom, 96/29/Ievratom, 97/43/Ievratom i 2003/122/Ievratom. https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/984_006-13#Text.
UNSCEAR 2016. Reports to the General Assembly with Scientific Annexes. Biological effects of selected internal emitters. New York, 2016.
Report on the safety review of the alps-treated water at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power station. Report by the IAEA of the IAEA Review of Safety Related Aspects of Handling ALPS-Treated Water at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station 2023. https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/iaea_comprehensive_alps_report.pdf.
Kovalenko, H.D., Turbaievskyi, V.V. (2004). Deiaki pytannia modeliuvannia rozpovsiudzhennia trytiiu v gruntovykh vodakh [Some modeling distribution of tritium in groundwater]. Yaderni y radiatsiini tekhnolohii – Nuclear and Radiation Technology, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 46–52.
Reddy, P. J., Sankhla, R., & Chaudhury, P. (2024). Appli-cation of portable liquid scintillation counter for on-field measurement of tritium in aqueous samples during radiation emergency. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 272, 107330.
Pro zatverdzhennia Norm radiatsiinoi bezpeky Ukrainy (NRBU-97). Vved. 1997-07-04. K. MOZU, 1997. 127 s.
Likvidatsiia radiatsiinoi avarii na skhovyshchakh 19, 20 – rekonstruktsiia merezhi sposterezhnykh sverdlovyn ta prohnoz radiatsiinoi obstanovky. [Tekst] : zvit pro ND (zakliuchnyi) / UkrNDIEP № 5.1-870. Kh.. 1999. 78 s.
Stvorennia merezhi kontroliu za stanom pidzemnykh vod ta vykonannia prohnoznykh rozrakhunkiv shchodo mihratsii trytiiu v dovkilli raionu roztashuvannia punktu zakhoronennia radioaktyvnykh vidkhodiv Kharkivskoho spetskombinatu.: zvit pro NDR / KhDMSSRBONS № 53 vid 19.08.02 r. Kh., 2002. 80 s.
Kartashov, V. V., Kovalenko, G. D., Letuchi, A. N., Samodurov, V. P., & Vitko, V. I. (2004). Tritium accumulation and preservation into clay minerals for environmental protection. Вопросы атомной науки и техники.
Provedennia heoloho-rozviduvalnykh robit na terytorii PZRV dlia vyznachennia rozmiriv zabrudnennia trytiiem zony aeratsii ta pidzemnykh vod. Etap 3. Vyznachennia rozmiriv zabrudnennia trytiiem zony aeratsii ta pidzemnykh vod, prohnozni otsinky do 2016 r. : zvit pro NDR (zakliuchnyi) / UkrNDIEP. − Kh., 2012. 76 s.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors who publish in this collection agree with the following terms:
• The authors reserve the right to authorship of their work and give the magazine the right to first publish this work under the terms of license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (with the Designation of Authorship - Non-Commercial - Without Derivatives 4.0 International), which allows others to freely distribute the published work with a mandatory reference to the authors of the original work and the first publication of the work in this magazine.
• Authors have the right to make independent extra-exclusive work agreements in the form in which they were published by this magazine (for example, posting work in an electronic repository of an institution or publishing as part of a monograph), provided that the link to the first publication of the work in this journal is maintained. .
• Journal policy allows and encourages the publication of manuscripts on the Internet (for example, in institutions' repositories or on personal websites), both before the publication of this manuscript and during its editorial work, as it contributes to the emergence of productive scientific discussion and positively affects the efficiency and dynamics of the citation of the published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
