Tritium Separation and Purification Technology of Low Level Wastewater

With the development of China's nuclear power and spent fuel reprocessing industries, along with the increasingly strict environmental emission standards, there is a growing demand for the safe and effective treatment and disposal of low-level tritiated wastewater generated during the operation of nuclear facilities. This article proposes a new method for tritium separation and purification of low-level tritiated wastewater using water distillation technology. An experimental system for low-level tritiated wastewater treatment was built, and a series of experiments were conducted to study the operating parameters of the system. This work conducted the first radioactive thermal trial for tritium separation and purification from the real low-level tritiated wastewater. The results show that this technology can effectively achieve efficient separation and concentration of tritium from low-level tritiated wastewater. The tritium concentration in the purified liquid was reduced to the level of 10² Bq/L, while that of the concentrated liquid reached the level of 10¹⁰ Bq/L, achieving a tritium separation factor of 9.49×10⁷. These results demonstrate the significant potential of this water distillation technology for practical application.