This stock, unused today, will be enough to fuel ITER for the fifteen years of its deuterium-tritium campaign. Small quantities of tritium are also produced by CANDU-type nuclear reactors-on the order of 100 grams per year for a 600 MW reactor, or approximately 20 kilograms per year globally. A few dozen kilograms are also dissolved in oceans as a result of atmospheric nuclear testing carried out between 19. The effect of cosmic rays on the outermost layers of the Earth's atmosphere produces anywhere from a couple of grams to a couple of kilograms every year (the estimates vary). In nature, tritium is found only in trace amounts. While deuterium can be easily extracted from seawater, which contains 33 milligrams per cubic metre, tritium is much harder to source. Tritium management at ITER will be the object of strict regulation and procedures.But here's the challenge. Tritium only presents a health hazard if it is ingested or inhaled after combining with other elements (tritiated water, for example). Its radioactivity is so low that it can be stopped by skin or a simple piece of paper.
Tritium is a radioactive element with a half-life of 12.3 years and low-energy beta decay. Whereas ''ordinary'' hydrogen (H) contains one proton, its isotope 3H (tritium) contains one proton and two neutrons.
