Distribution of tritium in water vapour and precipitation around Wolsung nuclear power plant.

Chae, Jung-Seok; Lee, Sang-Kuk; Kim, Yongjae; Lee, Jung-Min; Cho, Heung-Joon; Cho, Yong-Woo; Yun, Ju-Yong

The distribution of tritium in water vapour and precipitation with discharge of tritiated water vapour and meteorological factors was studied around the Wolsung nuclear power plant (NPP) site during the period 2004–2008. The tritium concentrations in atmospheric water vapour and precipitation had a temporal variation with relatively high values in the early summer. Spatial distribution of tritium concentrations was affected by various factors such as distance from the NPP site, wind direction, tritium discharge into the atmosphere and atmospheric dispersion factor. The annual mean concentrations of atmospheric HTO and precipitation were correlated with the amount of gaseous tritium released from the Wolsung NPP. The tritium concentrations in precipitation decrease exponentially with an increase of the distance from the Wolsung NPP site.

TRITIUM; WATER vapor transport; ATMOSPHERIC water vapor; NUCLEAR power plants; METEOROLOGICAL precipitation

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2011, Vol 146, Issue 1-3, p330

0144-8420

Academic Journal

10.1093/rpd/ncr182