Environmental transportation of tritium and estimation of site-specific model parameters for Kaiga site, India.

Tritium content in air moisture, soil water, rain water and plant water samples collected around the Kaiga site, India was estimated and the scavenging ratio, wet deposition velocity and ratio of specific activities of tritium between soil water and air moisture were calculated and the results are interpreted. Scavenging ratio was found to vary from 0.06 to 1.04 with a mean of 0.46. The wet deposition velocity of tritium observed in the present study was in the range of 3.3E-03 to 1.1E-02 m s(-1) with a mean of 6.6E-03 m s(-1). The ratio of specific activity of tritium in soil moisture to that in air moisture ranged from 0.17 to 0.95 with a mean of 0.49. The specific activity of tritium in plant water in this study varied from 73 to 310 Bq l(-1). The present study is very useful for understanding the process and modelling of transfer of tritium through air/soil/plant system at the Kaiga site.

Transfer coefficient of 137Cs from feed to cow milk in tropical region Kaiga, India.

In the transport model for the prediction of the concentration of (137)Cs in milk, the transfer coefficient from feed to milk, F(m), is an important parameter. Site-specific transfer coefficient from feed to cow's milk, for (137)Cs in the Kaiga environment, a nuclear power station site in India, determined over a period of 10 y is presented in this paper. The value is determined from (137)Cs concentration in milk and grass samples of the Kaiga region and the result ranged from 6.43E-03 to 1.09E-02 d l(-1) with a geometric mean value of 8.0E-03 d l(-1). The result is compared with that for (40)K, determined concurrently at the same region and ranged from 3.06E-03 to 3.48E-03 d l(-1) with a geometric mean value of 3.26E-03 d l(-1). This parameter is quite useful in decision-making for implementing countermeasures during a large area contamination with (137)Cs in tropical areas like Kaiga.