Review of potential online monitoring technologies for environmental tritium around nuclear power plant

• Published in: Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry Vol. 334; no. 7; pp. 4433 - 4456
• Main Authors: Huang, Yan-Jun, Sun, Xue-Feng, Guo, Gui-Yin, Zhang, Hai-Yin, Yang, Li-Tao, Zhu, Xin, Zhao, Feng, Zhang, Qi-Ming, Xu, Ao-Di
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.07.2025; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Data processing; Diagnostic Radiology; Environmental protection; Hadrons; Heavy Ions; Inorganic Chemistry; Ionization chambers; Liquid wastes; Monitoring; Nuclear Chemistry; Nuclear Physics; Nuclear power plants; Nuclear safety; Physical Chemistry; Radiation protection; Real time; Review Article; Scintillating fibers; Scintillation counters; Sensitivity analysis; Tritium; Tritium; Liquid scintillation counting; Online monitoring; Plastic scintillation fiber; Solid scintillation counting
• ISSN: 0236-5731; 1588-2780
• DOI: 10.1007/s10967-025-10192-1

This study evaluates the sensitivity and feasibility of online tritium monitoring technologies for environmental radiation protection of nuclear power plant. Focusing on ionization chambers (IC), liquid scintillation counters (LSC), solid scintillation detectors (SSD), and plastic scintillation fiber (PSF) sensors, we demonstrate that flow-cell LSC systems achieve the lowest detection limit (several Bq/L) with 1-h resolution through automated sampling and data processing. SSD methods show reduced sensitivity (~ hundreds of Bq/L) but eliminate liquid waste. PSF exhibits emerging potential for real-time low-level monitoring. Our findings highlight LSC as the most suitable solution for field application so far, while underscoring the need for improved sensitivity in SSD and PSF technologies to meet stringent regulatory requirements for nuclear safety and environmental protection.