132428TRIBECA2 (TRItium detection By ElectroChemically Assisted radiometrics 2)ClosedFeasibility StudiesInnovate UKTritium (T) is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen made during routine operation of nuclear reactors. This can give rise to waterborne tritium (as tritiated water HTO) in, inter alia, spent fuel (SF) cooling ponds and SF processing & waste treatment facilities – all potential sources of leaks to ground. HTO behaves identically to H2O and so is highly mobile in the environment and human tissue, with resultant human health risks. Thus, there are pressing safety, environmental & economic needs for fast, accurate & precise measurement of T around nuclear sites and in the waste streams arising from their operation/decommissioning. T emits a soft beta radiation making radiometric detection hard. However, data from successful Hybrid Instruments/Lancaster University projects funded by NERC & InnovateUK provide proof-of-principle that T can be selectively & reversibly gathered by palladium from HTO, this pre-concentrated T then being easily detected by solid scintillation counting. Building on this innovation, we aim to incorporate this technology in automated, fast & interference free monitors at TRL7 for faster testing of groundwater, effluent and materials without human exposure.