[Volume reduction and tritium retention factor in electrolytic enrichment of water].

Volume reduction(N), tritium retention factor (R), tritium concentration factor(Z) and apparent separation factor(beta) were measured on the large and small electrolytic cell systems. The relative variation of R was smaller than that of Z. So, it is recommended to use R in calculation of tritium concentrations in water samples. Furthermore, it was empirically revealed that R can be obtained only from N if a reliable beta-value is previously known. Therefore, it is possible to obtain R without electrolysis of the tritium standard solution. Taking into account the above facts, the so-called non-spike analysis of tritium, in which electrolytic enrichment and liquid scintillation counting are combined, becomes practicable.