title: Tritium ((3)H) as a tracer for monitoring the dispersion of conservative radionuclides discharged by the Angra dos Reis nuclear power plants in the Piraquara de Fora Bay, Brazil.
abstract: Presently, two nuclear power plants operate in Brazil. Both are located at Itaorna beach, Angra dos Reis, approximately 133 km from Rio de Janeiro city. The reactor cooling circuits require the input of seawater, which is later discharged through a pipeline into the adjacent Piraquara de Fora Cove. The radioactive effluents undergo ion-exchange treatment prior to their release in batches, causing the enrichment of (3)H relative to other radionuclides in the discharged waters. Under steady state conditions, the (3)H gradient in the Piraquara de Fora waters can be used to determine the dependence of the dilution factor on the distance from the discharge point. The present work describes experiments carried out at the reactor site during batch release episodes, including time series sampling at the discharge point and surface seawater sampling every 250 m to a distance of 1250 m, after a double distillation, the (3)H concentration was measured by liquid scintillation counting applying a Quantulus liquid scintillation spectrometer. The obtained results showed a linear relationship between the (3)H concentration and distance from the discharge point. At 1250 m from the discharge point a dilution index of 1:15 was measured which fits the expected value based on modeling.
authors: Programa de Engenharia Nuclear, COPPE/UFRJ, Cidade Universitária, Caixa Postal 68.509, 21945-970 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: Franciane
authors: F
authors: de Carvalho Gomes
authors: Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD), Caixa Postal 37750, Barra da Tijuca, 22783-127 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Departamento de Química, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rua Marquês de São Vicente 225, 22453-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Electronic address: jmgodoy@puc-rio.br.
authors: José Marcus
authors: JM
authors: Godoy
authors: Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD), Caixa Postal 37750, Barra da Tijuca, 22783-127 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: Zenildo Lara
authors: ZL
authors: de Carvalho
authors: Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD), Caixa Postal 37750, Barra da Tijuca, 22783-127 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: Elder Magalhães
authors: EM
authors: de Souza
authors: Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria (IRD), Caixa Postal 37750, Barra da Tijuca, 22783-127 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: José Ivan
authors: JI
authors: Rodrigues Silva
authors: Programa de Engenharia Nuclear, COPPE/UFRJ, Cidade Universitária, Caixa Postal 68.509, 21945-970 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Tadeu Lopes
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D012588:Scintillation Counting; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis*; D014316:Tritium / Q000032:analysis*; D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014875:Water Pollutants, Radioactive; D014316:Tritium
keywords: Brazil; CNAAA; Effluents; Piraquara de Fora Cove; Tritium