TRITIUM DISCHARGES INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AT THE FIRST AND SECOND BLOCKS

OF THE LENINGRAD V. I. LENIN ATOMIC POWER PLANT

M. I. Orlov, V. P. Shamov, and V. V. Kosinskii UDC 546.110.23:621.311.25:

621.039.524.2

In 1986 the installed capacity of atomic power plants with high-powerchannel reactors
was 54% of the total capacity in the Soviet nuclear power industry [I]. This helps to ac-
count for the pressing need for a determination of the atmospheric discharges of such a bio-
logically significant, globally propagating radionuclide as tritium from these atomic power
plants.
At atomic power plants withhigh-power channel reactors, tritium is produced in the fuel
elements (ternary fission in the fuel), in the coolant and cooling water of the control and
safety system (deuterium activation), in the control and safety rods (boron activation), and
in the gas loop (activation of lithium impurities in the graphite and helium impurities in
the h e l i ~ i t r o g e n mixture blown through the reactor plenum). The rates of tritium produc-
tion in the fuel, coolant, cooling water of the control and safety system, control and safety
rods, and helium-nitrogen mixture are 8010, 0.126, 0.028, 2.2-3.8, and 0.2-0.5 TBq/[GW(e)'yr],
respectively [2]. The rate of tritium production in the lithium impurities in graphite has
a time dependence due to lithium burnup as the reactor operates [2], and averages 8-40 TBq/
(GW-yr) for a mass fraction of lithium in graphite of i-5-I0 -a over the 30-yr life of an
atomic power plant.
Tritium discharges into the atmosphere at atomic power plants with high-power channel
reactors consist of tritium discharges f~om the gas loopand discharges in vapor leaks and
evaporated liquid media [2, 3]. The rate of tritium escape from the gas loop due to the lack
of containment systems is determined from the volume radioactivity of tritium in the helium-
nitrogen mixture at the outlet fromthereactor plenum and the volume flow rate of the mix-
ture through it. The rate of tritium discharge in vapor leaks and evaporated media consists
of the rates of tritium escape from individual systems, for one of which it can be defined
as the product of the specific radioactivity of tritium in the given system's water by the
mass velocity of irreversible water losses from the system due to evaporation and/or vapor
leaks.
To study tritium discharges into the atmosphere fromthe first and second blocks (phase
!) of the Leningrad V. I. Lenin Atomic Power Plant, from 1981 to 1985 we conducted several
series (each lasting 1-2 months) of simultaneousobservations of the specific tritium radio-
activity in the coolant, cooling water of the control and safety system, and other in-house
process water, and the volume radioactivity of tritium in the gas exiting the reactor plenum
and in air discharged to the atmosphere through the special ventilation systems. In the
measurement period we monitored the volume flow rate of the helium-nitrogen mixture through
the reactor plenum, the volume flow rate of the air discharged through the chimney and pipes
leading onto the roofs of the blocks, atmospheric humidity, and the moisture content of air
discharged to the atmosphere through discharge pipes. Ourresearch was conducted with both
blocks operating under near-nominal conditions.
As an example, on the following page we present the observational results for the series
in 1981 and 1985, averaged for the two blocks (Table I).
As can be seen from the data presented, in 5 yr the specific tritium radioactivity in
the coolant and cooling water of the control and safety system increased, while the volume
radioactivity of tritium in the gas escaping from thereactor plenumand in the discharged
air remained at the same level. Since the volume flow rates of the helium-nitrogen mixture
through the reactor plenumand of air discharged to the atmosphere were practically unchanged
over the period studied, tritium dischargesfrom the gas loop and total tritium discharges

Translated from Atomnaya ~nergiya, Vol. 66, No. 3, pp. 205-206, March, 1989. Original
article submitted May 26, 1987.

236 0038-531X/89/6603-0236512.50 9 1989 Plenum Publishing Corporation

 TABLE
II
1
1981 1985
S p e c i f i c r a d i o a c t i v i t y (kBq/kg)
coolant 17.8• 22.6•
cooling water of c o n t r o l and 44.3• 48.6•
s a f e t y system
Volume radioactivity (Bq/m s):
gas at outlet from reactor (24 • 8)'10 a (26 • 6)'I0 a
plenum
air from chimney 84 • 18 86 • 20
air from pipes led out to roof 48 • 19 50 • 22
(weighted average for 14
pipes)
[The errors are the standard deviations (including variations of
the measured quantity in time, and systematic errors, which were
estimated to be 20-25% per unit measurement according to the
recommendations of [4]).]

to the atmosphere remained at practically the same levels of 0.058 • 0.014 and 0.55 • 0.15
TBq/(GW-yr), respectively. The tritium in the discharges was found in oxide form (water).
Comparing the annual normalized tritium discharge into the atmosphere from the first
and second blocks of the Leningrad V. I. Lenin Atomic Power Plant with the analogous quan-
tity for foreign atomic power plants with BWR reactors that have the best value of this in-
dex - 3.4 TBq/(GW'yr) [5] - we may note that it is much lower at the Leningrad V. I. Lenin
Atomic Power Plant.
Given the constant total rate of tritium discharge to the atmosphere, the increase in
the specific radioactivity of primary process w a t e r ( w h i c h can be seen through the example
of the coolant and the cooling water of the control and safety system), which was accompanied
by a decrease in the difference between the absolute moisture content of the discharged air
and atmospheric air, attests to the effectiveness of the measures taken by personnel of the
Leningrad V. I. Lenin Atomic Power Plant to reduce irreversible vapor losses of process water.
Using the process parameters characterizing ventilation discharges from the first and
second blocks at the Leningrad V. I. Lenin Atomic Power Plant and the rates that we found
for the rate of tritium discharge into the atmosphere in accordance with the recommendations
of [6], we calculated the maximum average-annual volume radioactivity of tritium (~3.10 -s
Bq/m 3) possible at the point where the discharge plume touches ground (1.8 km from the
plant) under the worst meteorological conditions. The value of this radioactivity is lower
by a factor of 2.106 than the allowable volume radioactivity of tritium oxide in the air for
a limited segment of the population (6-I0 s Bq/m 3 [7]); this attests to the practical safety
of tritium discharges from the first and second blocks of the Leningrad V. I. Lenin Atomic
Power Plant for residents of neighboring populated areas.

LITERATURE CITED
I. M. Kempken, "Verzeichnis der Kernkraftwerke der Welt," Atomwirtschaft-Atomtechnik , 31,
No. ii, 562-567 (1986).
2. M . I . Orlov, V. P. Shamov, and V. V. Kosinskii, Tritium at Atomic Power Plants with
RBMK-1000 Reactors [in Russian], TsNIIatominform, Moscow (1987).
3. V . V . Kosinskii, M. I. Orlov, and V. P. Shamov, Tritium Production at Atomic Power Plants
with High-Power Channel Reactors and the Entry of Tritium into the Environment, Preprint
of TsNIIatominform-ON-4-87, TsNIIatominform, Moscow (1987).
4. G. Taylor, Introduction to Error Theory [Russian translation], Mir, Moscow (1985).
5. "Ionizing radiations: sources and biological effects," 1982 Report of the United Nations
NKDAR to the General Assembly, Vol. I, United Nations Press, New York (1982).
6. E . I . Teverskii and I. A. Ternovskii (eds.), Allowable Discharges of Radioactive Sub-
stances and Harmful Chemicals into the Ground Layer of the Atmosphere [in Russian],
Atomizdat, Moscow (1980).
7. Radiation Safety Standards (NRB-76) and Basic Regulations for Working with Radioactive
Substances and Other Sources of Ionizing Radiations (OSP-72/80) [in Russian], ~nergoiz-
dat, Moscow (1981).

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