# TRITIUM - A Real-Time Tritium Monitor System for Water Quality Surveillance

## TL;DR

This paper presents the development of TRITIUM, a real-time water monitor system designed for in-situ detection of low-level tritium in water near nuclear plants, addressing regulatory and safety needs.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a novel scintillation fiber-based detector system capable of real-time, in-situ tritium monitoring with high sensitivity, suitable for environmental surveillance near nuclear facilities.

## Key findings

- Prototype detector shows promising sensitivity for low tritium levels.
- System capable of real-time water quality surveillance.
- Deployment planned near a Spanish nuclear power plant.

## Abstract

In this work the development results of the TRITIUM project is presented. The main objective of the project is the construction of a near real-time monitor for low activity tritium in water, aimed at in-situ surveillance and radiological protection of river water in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. The European Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom requires that the maximum level of tritium in water for human consumption to be lower than 100 Bq/L. Tritium levels in the cooling water of nuclear power plants in normal operation are much higher than the levels caused by the natural and cosmogenic components, and may easily surmount the limit required by the Directive. The current liquid-scintillation measuring systems in environmental radioactivity laboratories are sensitive to such low levels, but they are not suitable for real-time monitoring. Moreover, there is no currently available device with enough sensitivity and monitoring capabilities that could be used for surveillance of the cooling water of nuclear power plants. A detector system based on scintillation fibers read out by photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) or silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) arrays is under development for in-water tritium measurement. This detector will be installed in the vicinity of Almaraz nuclear power plant (Spain) in Spring 2019. An overview of the project development and the results of first prototypes are presented.