A model approach for tritium dynamics in wild mammals

“Horia Hulubei” National Institute of Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Department of Life and Environmental Physics, 30 Reactorului St., POB MG-6, Bucharest-Magurele, RO-077125, Romania

Abstract

Tritium (³H) transfer into environment must be modelled differently than the transfer of other radionuclides released from nuclear reactors because hydrogen represents the building blocks of life. A solid understanding of ³H behaviour is essential because ³H may be released in large quantities from CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) reactors and from future thermonuclear reactors. Recently, the authors published a complex dynamic metabolic model for ³H and ¹⁴C transfer in farm and wild animals, but the model applications for wild biota were restricted to too few examples and mostly for ¹⁴C transfer. In this study, the model is applied to few selected wild animals for ³H uptake. Despite the lack of any experimental data for wild animals, the results presented in this study are less uncertain than for many other radionuclides and can provide a useful estimation for biota radioprotection.