Determination of tritium concentration in aquatic environment using solid polymer electrolyte

An electrolysis apparatus utilizing solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) was used to enrich HTO contained in various aquatic samples collected from Kansai area in the vicinity of KURRI (Kyoto University Research Reactor). Usually 1L of distilled sample was condensed to about 48ml by electrolysis. Under this condition, tritium in the sample water was ten-fold enriched. The tritium concentration in river water in the summer season distributed between 0.4 and 1.3 Bq/L. The tritium enrichment system using SPE was found to be convenient to assay aquatic HTO.