Low Temperature Characterization of Tritium Contaminated Surfaces Used in Animal Studies

The behaviour of tritium in the body, as a result of intakes from contact with tritium contaminated surfaces and the subsequent radiation dose impact, is dependent on the nature of the tritium species. Research over the past few years has yielded important insight into the nature of tritiated species on surfaces exposed to elemental tritium. A significant drawback to understanding the relationship between tritium exposure and dose however is that most surface characterization data, reported in the literature, was generated at high temperature, whereas, exposure to tritiated surfaces occurs mostly at ambient temperature. In this paper we describe the results of characterization studies carried out at both ambient and high temperature. The well characterized stainless steel specimens were subsequently used in animal exposures.