Abstract
A large amount of tritium is required as the fuel source for the deuteron-tritium nuclear fusion reaction putting workers at a great risk for internal radiation exposure. As a result, one of the major issues arising in the development of the fusion reactor is the assessment of the biological effects of tritium released from nuclear fusion power plants during routine operation or accidents. In the present study, the mutagenic effect of tritiated water at low dose-rate was investigated using wold type and p53-deficient mice, then compared that of 137Cs gamma rays. The p53 gene plays a key role in the cellular respomse to genotoxic stress. It is thought that p53 deficiency results in increased survival of cell with DNA damage, either by failure of DNA repair, or by failed deletion of mutation-bearing cells. The in vivo T-cell receptor (TCR) assay detects somatic mutation with high sensitivity.
