Tritium In The Savannah River Site Environment PDF Download

Tritium is released to the environment from many of the operations at the Savannah River Site. The releases from each facility to the atmosphere and to the soil and streams, both from normal operations and inadvertent releases, over the period of operation from the early 1950s through 1988 are presented. The fate of the tritium released is evaluated through environmental monitoring, special studies, and modeling. It is concluded that approximately 91% of the tritium remaining after decay is now in the oceans. A dose and risk assessment to the population around the site is presented. It is concluded that about 0.6 fatal cancers may be associated with the tritium released during all the years of operation to the population of about 625,000. This same population (based on the overall US cancer statistics) is expected to experience about 105,000 cancer fatalities from all types of cancer. Therefore, it is considered unlikely that a relationship between any of the cancer deaths occurring in this population and releases of tritium from the SRS will be found.