Spatial distribution of tritium in the Rawatbhata Rajasthan site environment

Tritium is one of the most environmentally mobile radionuclides and hence has high potential for migration into the different compartments of environment. Tritium from nuclear facilities at RAPS site is released into the environment through 93 m and 100 m high stack mainly as tritiated water (HTO). The released tritium undergoes dilution and dispersion and then follows the ecological pathway of water molecule. Environmental Survey Laboratory of Health Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), located at Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) site is continuously monitoring the concentration of tritium in the environment to ensure the public safety. Atmospheric tritium activity during the period (2009-2013) was measured regularly around Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS). Data collected showed a large variation of H-3 concentration in air fluctuating in the range of 0.43 - 5.80 Bq.m-3 at site boundary of 1.6 km. This paper presents the result of analyses of tritium in atmospheric environment covering an area up to 20 km radius around RAPS site. Large number of air moisture samples were collected around the RAPS site, for estimating tritium in atmospheric environment to ascertain the atmospheric dispersion and computation of radiation dose to the public