Kevin O'Kula
Westinghouse Safety Management Solutions, LLC

0.5 IH CM point

The Department of Energy (DOE) Complex has numerous facilities that process, transport, and/or store tritium-bearing materials. Because of its physical and chemical properties, tritium is unique in its behavior relative to other nuclides during normal operations, as well as under accident conditions. The consequence analyst must be aware of these differences in performing dose calculations used in Authorization Basis documentation, and ensure that the dispersion/consequence methods and input assumption are appropriate for the facility and site in question. This training session will address major aspects in accident analysis modeling of tritium, and highlight:

• Tritium Radiological Hazard Perspective

• Behavior of Tritium in the Environment as Hydrogen Gas (HT) and Tritiated Water Vapor (HTO)

• Tritium-Containing Source Terms from Nuclear Facilities

• Atmospheric Release, Dispersion, and Transport Considerations and Methods

• Applicable Computer Models for Early and Long-term Assessments

• Considerations Towards Conservative User Inputs and Assumptions

• Aqueous Release Considerations and Methods

Tritium Dispersion and Consequence Analysis examples from DOE Authorization Basis-supporting documentation will illustrate different approaches to modeling the atmospheric dispersion of this radionuclide. A model comparison from the Accident Phenomenology and Consequence Methodology Evaluation program will be used to characterize applicable computer models.