Overview of Tritium at Berkeley Lab's NTLF

Berkeley Lab's National Tritium Labeling Facility (NTLF) was established as a National Institutes of Health national resource center in 1982. The Facility's role is to conduct research, help biomedical researchers study cell metabolism, and test new products that can be useful in curing disease.

Facility staff and visiting researchers "label" pharmaceuticals and other materials with tritium (replacing ordinary hydrogen atoms with tritium atoms). For example, a potential cancer drug might be tritium-labeled so that researchers can trace where the drug is deposited in the body and evaluate its effectiveness in treating a particular type of cancer. Because tritium is radioactive, it can be easily distinguished and measured, whereas the "nonlabeled" material can be hard to find in the body.

The NTLF is unique in the U.S. in its ability to do both labeling and analysis at the same location. Small quantities of tritiated water vapor are emitted from the facility. Berkeley Lab takes samples of stack air emissions, ambient air, rainfall, groundwater, creeks, sewers, and vegetation to measure emission and environmental levels. The Laboratory publishes these sample results annually and sends the reports to various agencies, including the DOE, EPA, and the UC Berkeley main (Doe) Library.

In terms of emissions and public exposures, here's what the monitoring shows: If a person lived right next door to the tritium facility, emissions would account for far less than one percent of that person's annual radiation exposure. In 1998, the annual dose from the facility to a person living next to the Lab was .27 millirem. By comparison, people are exposed to an average dose of about 100-400 millirems from a variety of natural radiation sources.

Emissions from the NTLF have been the subject of discussions by members of the neighboring community. In order to answer questions about the facility and to provide relevant background information and data to the interested public, we've created this website. The index list on the left includes reports and statements that address public concerns about environmental health and safety, as well as details about tritium and its use at Berkeley Lab. We welcome your comments and questions. Please direct your questions to Terry Powell, who heads Community Relations here, at tpowell@lbl.gov.

National Tritium Labeling Facility

THE NATIONAL TRITIUM LABELING FACILITY

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