The Dynamics of Tritium - Including OBT - in the Aquatic Food Chain

Tritiated water spills by nuclear installations result in uptake in aquatic organisms. The radionuclide uptake model BURN (developed by NRG, modified), considers not only tritium as tritiated water (HTO) but also the conversion into organically bound tritium (OBT). Comparison with the original BURN mode showed that the modified model gave more realistic results in terms of concentration levels, and consequently for dose assessment as result of ingestion of fishery products. For more accurate modelling, seasonal effects and half-life estimates asa function of body weight and water temperature must be taken into account. A first attempt is given, although limited empirical data gives reason to further investigation of this significant effect.