Work

Determination of the Total 14 C Concentration of Water Samples Using the Cod Method and Ams

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT Radiocarbon ( 14 C) is the one of the most important radionuclides released from the nuclear facilities to the environment. Currently, inorganic 14 C is checked during regular environmental monitoring as part of the groundwater monitoring program of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant. Several studies have shown that organic 14 C can be also an important and sensitive tool for detection of possible leakage of nuclear technological systems. For this reason, a wet oxidation method was developed for the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C measurement technique to determine the 14 C activity concentration of the total dissolved carbon content of water samples, coming from environmental monitoring wells. The overall efficiency of the oxidation was around 94 ± 5% for different types of tested organic compounds. The typical 14 C background (1–2 pMC) is obtained by preparation of blank samples, which allows a detection level of around 5·10 –5 Bq L –1 . The activity of the organic fraction can be calculated using the formula presented in the study. The method was applied for water samples deriving from environmental monitoring wells of a pressurized-water reactor (PWR) type of NPP. The results of our investigations over the 14 different water samples around the Paks NPP show that DO 14 C contribution to the total 14 C activity concentration was between 5–25%.

Source: Radiocarbon

DOI: 10.1017/rdc.2022.42