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Conference Spotlight
Nuclear Energy Conference & Expo (NECX)
September 8–11, 2025
Atlanta, GA|Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
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Deep Space: The new frontier of radiation controls
In commercial nuclear power, there has always been a deliberate tension between the regulator and the utility owner. The regulator fundamentally exists to protect the worker, and the utility, to make a profit. It is a win-win balance.
From the U.S. nuclear industry has emerged a brilliantly successful occupational nuclear safety record—largely the result of an ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) process that has driven exposure rates down to what only a decade ago would have been considered unthinkable. In the U.S. nuclear industry, the system has accomplished an excellent, nearly seamless process that succeeds to the benefit of both employee and utility owner.
R.A. Surette, R.G.C. McElroy
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 14 | Number 2 | September 1988 | Pages 1141-1146
Tritium Safety | doi.org/10.13182/FST88-1
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This presentation describes some experiments to investigate the removal, regrowth and evolution of tritium from stainless steel planchets that had been exposed to elemental tritium. The total tritium sorbed onto and into a planchet was measured by heating the planchet and collecting the evolved tritium. The removable surface activity was determined from swipe measurements. The evolution of tritium from the planchets was determined by leaving some of the planchets exposed to air for almost one year and then measuring the tritium remaining. The swipe experiments indicate that a removal efficiency of 10% is representative but usually conservative for an undisturbed surface. In general, the fraction of activity that is removable is dependent on the surface history. If a cleaned surface is left undisturbed for a few days removable surface activity may regrow. If the surface is left undisturbed for a long period of time (months) some of the tritium in the planchet will be lost to the atmosphere.
