3 ms·

> Water, aka H2O, doesn't activate so it is not radioactive, it can however carry radioactive isotopes in solution. What? Tritium is an unstable hydrogen isoto

> Water, aka H2O, doesn't activate so it is not radioactive, it can however carry radioactive isotopes in solution. What? Tritium is an unstable hydrogen isotope that is radioactive, no matter what molecule it is found in. Combine that with acid-base chemistry which revolves around the disassociation of hydrogen from water and that tritium can end up as a beta emitter anywhere in the body, including in actual strands of DNA [1]. What radioactive isotopes the water carries as a solute is irrelevant to the presence of tritium in the molecules. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11130944 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11130944

ChuckMcM 13y ago
Ah yes, there is that. And in fact a bit of searching turns up this is probably what Reuters was reporting [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/03/national/huge-leak-of-tritium-feared-in-fukushima/#.Uf_p4Ndj3mE http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/03/national/huge-le...] I had originally dismissed Tritium as a candidate for the contamination because its nominally only in the reactor water and the Reuter's article talked about 'groundwater' (which is the name nominally given to water that accumulates in aquifers as a result of soil percolation). Apparently TEPCO is losing control of the reactor coolant water which is a different thing. That said, Tritium [1] isn't a particularly "bad" agent as it decays into Helium3 (great for fusion reactors if you've got one :-) and then floats away. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritium