Environmental monitoring and dose assessment following the December 1991 K-reactor aqueous tritium release

Between 22 December and 25 December 1991, approximately 570 L of tritiated water was released from the K Reactor at the Savannah River Site. Analyses of river flow rates and measured tritium concentrations showed that approximately 210 TBq of tritium had been released from the reactor and was being transported down the Savannah River. Elevated tritium concentrations in the Savannah River were first detected on 26 December 1991. The maximum measured tritium concentration at Highway 301 (a major sampling point 37 km downstream of the Savannah River Site) was 2.5 Bq mL-1. A hypothetical maximum individual located at Highway 301 would have received a drinking water dose of approximately 0.35 microSv, less than 1% of the Environmental Protection Agency's 40 microSv y-1 drinking water standard. Concentrations at the intake canals to two water treatment facilities, approximately 160 km downstream, began to rise above normal on 28 December. The population dose to users of the downstream domestic water supplies and consumers of Savannah River biota was estimated to be 4.7 x 10(-3) person-Sv.