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Tritium undergoes beta decay and has a 12 year half life. Beta decay from a sign or your watch can only partially get through your skin (and skin is continuously shed and contains melanin). If you drink (or eat plants/animals in a tritium contaminated foodchain) then you bypass that protective layer and can damage organs that have far less resilience to radiation exposure.

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I understood this to be the main concern with regards to harmful radiation. The article states that when HTO is consumed and comes in contact with biological molecules it binds to them and can stay in the body for years. It goes on to state the the negative effects of this may be underestimated.

Right. So put it in an oil tanker, take it someplace with permafrost, pump it out, and let it freeze. A few parts of Hokkaido are cold enough. In a century, it will have decayed enough to be a non-problem.

I don't think I'd want to bank on stable permafrost for a century. And one would probably want to put some care into site selection and construction as seismic hazards got us here to begin with. The residents of Hokkaido might reasonably not be warmly welcoming to this idea. I don't know enough about tritium impact to sublimation rates, but that would presumably be a problem. But point is taken about enclosed and chilled storage for 84-96 years.

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