Is the radiation dose from tritium any different than the dose from natural background radioactivity or medical administrations?
• The type of radiation dose from tritium is the same as from any other type of radiation, including natural background radiation and medical administrations. • The tritium dose from nuclear power plants is much lower than the exposures attributable to natural background radiation and medical administrations. • Humans receive approximately 82% of their annual radiation dose from natural background radiation, 15% from medical procedures (e.g., x-rays), and 3% from consumer products. Doses from tritium and nuclear power plant effluents are a negligible contribution to the background radiation to which people are normally exposed, and they account for less than 0.1% of the total background dose (NCRP, 1987). As an example, assume that a residential drinking water well sample contains tritium at the level of 1,600 picocuries per liter (a comparable tritium level was identified in a drinking water well near the Braidwood Station nuclear facility). The radiation dose from drinking water at t
