Releases of krypton-85 and tritium to the environment and tritium to krypton-85 ratios as source indicators

Abstract

More than 95 percent of the krypton-85 that is at present observed in the environment on a global scale originates from the combined releases following nuclear-power generation and plutonium production, while atmospheric fusion-bomb testing accounts for the same percentage of the global tritium. The global inventories at the end of 1973 were 55 MCi (estimated uncertainty +- 10 percent) of krypton-85, and 2900 MCi (+- 25 percent) of tritium. From the excess of the global krypton-85 inventory over the amounts accounted for by the sources other than plutonium production, it is concluded that 130 tonnes of plutonium-239 have been produced up to 1970. Pronounced fractionation occurs between atmosphere and hydrosphere, in the sense that the concentration of krypton-85 is lowered, and that of tritium (being overwhelmingly in the form of a water molecule, HTO) is greatly increased, in the hydrosphere. Largely as a consequence of this fractionation, the environmental tritium to krypton-85 ratios cover a wide range, with values lowest in the troposphere (typical order of magnitude 10$sup -1$ Ci/ Ci) and highest in continental surface water (approximately 10$sup 5$). Preliminary oceanic krypton-85 data are reported, which indicate that the concentration decrease with depth in the ocean is very similarmore » for both nuclides. Effluents from nuclear power reactors and reprocessing plants have tritium to krypton-85 ratios that do not differ markedly from those found at present in the troposphere; on the other hand, the very high ratios that are typical of the hydrosphere may offer opportunities of detecting such effluents in the hydrosphere on the basis of tritium to krypton-85 ratios. Considerable uncertainties in the ratios of the effluents have, however, to be anticipated, arising from varying, and fluctuating, fractionation between the two nuclides in the release processes. (auth)« less