Health Risk Due To Using Tritium Night Sights

The GALIL rifle developed by the Israel Military Industries (IMI) is manufactured in Colombia, by the military industry (INDUMIL). This rifle is the standard for Colombian forces. The rifles have night sights that use Gaseous Tritium Light Sources (GTLS) that are imported. An important step for INDUMIL to obtain the required authorizations to handle this radioactive material is to determine the health risk, associated with the use of Tritium in GTLS. The study carried out follows the recommendations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USA). The study concludes that the risk associated with storing and transporting sights between INDUMIL factories, fitting sights on rifles, using these rifles and discarding sights is very low. A future paper will deal with the risk in case of accidents.