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The specific radioactive pollutant I'm speaking of is tritium which has been found in discharge water from 45 of 65 tested US nuclear sites.[0] Tritum's half-li
by mimixco 7y ago
The specific radioactive pollutant I'm speaking of is tritium which has been found in discharge water from 45 of 65 tested US nuclear sites.[0] Tritum's half-life is more than 12 years, not a few minutes. [ibid]
Several studies have found a connection between ingestion of tritium-contamined water and health effects, including DNA damage that leads to increased infant mortality. [1][2]
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium
[1] http://www.ccnr.org/tritium_1.html#BEIR http://www.ccnr.org/tritium_1.html#BEIR
[2] http://www.ccnr.org/tritium_1.html#UN-H http://www.ccnr.org/tritium_1.html#UN-H
- petschge 7y agoAnd how is Tritium, or rather super-heavy water that contains Tritium as one of its two hydrogen atoms, not a chemical?
- mimixco 7y agoTritium isn't really a "separate chemical" but rather an isotope of hydrogen. Since water molecules are made of hydrogen and oxygen bound together, there is no simple way to remove the radioactive hydrogen by itself. The current best methods, from what I'm seeing online, involve separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms into gasses and then processing out the tritiated hydrogen molecules. Apparently, it's expensive and only about 85% effective. https://agrdailynews.com/2015/07/01/how-to-remove-radioactive-tritium-from-water-four-methods-and-technologies-illustrated/ https://agrdailynews.com/2015/07/01/how-to-remove-radioactiv...