• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.25-32
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• 1998

Tritium is released into the environment as various form but HTO is most relevant to the incorporation of tritium into living organisms and to the formation of OBT. Tritiated compounds may be transported to humans via several tropic levels. Retention times of organically bound tritium in organisms are considerably longer than those of tritiated water, which has significant consequences on exposure dose estimation. It is rather difficult to predict the amount of OBT produced by the photosynthetic process of plants because it may be influenced by a multitude of environmental factors and plant parameters. Tritiated organic matters are classified as the exchangeable or nonexchangeable bound tritium according to the bound form. After short term HTO exposure in plants, the formation and uptake of OBT were evaluated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.303-309
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• 2019

Tritium is an important nuclide that must be monitored for radiation safety management. In this study, HTO was orally administered to rats at the level of 37 kBq ($1{\mu}Ci$) or 370 kBq ($10{\mu}Ci$) to examine tissue distribution and excretion levels. After sacrifice, wet and dry tissue samples were weighed and analyzed for tissue free-water tritium (TFWT) and organically bound tritium (OBT). The mean tissue concentrations of TFWT (OBT) were 30.9 (17.8) and 4.4 (8.1) Bq/g on days 7 and 13 at the 37 kBq level and 30.8 (64.6) Bq/g on day 17 at the 370 kBq level. To assess the cytogenetic damage due to tritium exposure, a cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (MN) assay was performed in blood samples from rats exposed to HTO for 14 and 21 days after oral administration. There was no significant difference in the MN frequencies between the control and exposed rats.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.319-328
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• 2005

This paper describes a compartment dynamic model for evaluating the contamination level of kritium in agricultural plants exposed by accidentally released tritium. The present model uses a time-dependent growth equation of plant so that it can predict the effect of growth stage of plant during the exposure time. The model including atmosphere, soil and plant compartments is described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and is able to predict time-dependent concentrations of tritium in the compartments. To validate the model, a series of exposure experiments of HTO vapor on Chinese cabbage and radish was carried out at the different growth stage of each plant. At the end of exposure, the tissue free water(TFWT) and the organically bound tritium(OBT) were measured. The measured concentrations were agreed well with model predictions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.75-82
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• 1998

Tritium concentration in the atmosphere during HTO exposure was different between two experiments due to different velocity of HTO evaporation. Assimilation rate of the rice plant was considered to be higher than that of Chinese cabbage The uptake of atmospheric HTO into tissue free water tritium(TFWT) was higher in rice plants than in Chinese cabbage. However, organically bound tritium(OBT) concentration is relatively higher in Chinese cabbage than in rice. The specific activity ratio(SAR) increased slowly after HTO exposure and decreased gradually with time. The behaviour of HTO in the soil was affected by the environmental conditions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2005

A dynamic compartment model was developed to appraise the level of the contamination of agricultural plants by accidentally released tritium from nuclear facility. The model consists of a set of inter-connected compartments representing atmosphere, soil and plant. In the model three categories of plant are considered: leafy vegetables, grain plants and tuber plants, of which each is modeled separately to account for the different transport pathways of tritium. The predictive accuracy of the model was tested through the analysis of the tritium exposure experiments for rice-plants. The predicted TFWT(tissue free water tritium) concentration of the rice ear at harvest was greatly affected by the absolute humidity of air, the ratio of root uptake, and the rate of rainfall, while its OBT(organically bound tritium) concentration the stowing period of the ear, the absolute humidity of air and the content of hydrogen in the organic phase. There was a good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental results lot the OBT concentration of the ear.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.75-78
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• 2003

The organically bound tritium(OBT) concentrations of the marine organisms(seaweed and shellfish) around Wolsung nuclear power plants were measured. The OBT concentrations of seaweeds were in the range of $0.372{\sim}2.72$ Bq/kg-fresh. The OBT concentrations of shellfish were in the range of $0.239{\sim}2.02$ Bq/kg-fresh. The internal dose due to the OBT concentration of seaweed was estimated as $3.4{\times}10^{-7}$ mSv/year.