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Radiocarbon in stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), collected during 2007–2008 at the locations east of the Dukovany NPP, and at the reference sites. Activities are reported in ‰ of Δ 14 C.
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Radiocarbon variations in the atmosphere have been observed at the Žlkovce monitoring station of the Bohunice nuclear power plant (NPP), situated only 5 km ESE from the NPP. The observed 14C levels provide unique evidence of a decreasing long-term impact of the Bohunice NPP on the region. Simultaneously, decreasing emissions of fossil fuel carbon d...
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The most recent assessments conducted by the International Energy Agency indicate that natural gas accounts for the majority of Nigeria’s fossil fuel-derived electricity generation, with crude oil serving mostly as a backup source. Fossil fuel-generated electricity represents 80% of the country’s total. In addition, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions i...
Citations
... Several studies have shown a slight excess of 14 C in annual tree rings around the Barseback nuclear power plant (Sweden) and in the vicinity of the Paks nuclear power plant (Hungary) (Janovics et al. 2013;Stenstrom et al. 1997). Povinec et al. (1986Povinec et al. ( , 2015 observed 14 C variations in the vicinity of the Bohunice NPP (Slovakia). They concluded that the impact from the power plant on 14 C levels in Zlkovice (monitoring station situated 5 km away from NPP) was negligible, resulting in 5‰ Δ 14 C, which is very close to the statistical limits . ...
In this paper we analyze the radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) concentration changes over the whole operational period of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) including the post-shutdown decommissioning. Environmental samples from the vicinity of the INPP and a rural area as background of pine tree rings were analyzed with the single stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS). The analysis shows the local influence of the INPP from 3 to 7 pMC. The whole time span from 1983 to 2015 is divided into three periods representing the early and late operational and post-shutdown stages of the INPP with different ¹⁴ C profiles in analyzed samples. The influence of the maintenance of the INPP and radioactive waste management activities are indicated and discussed.
... The Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics of the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics at the Comenius University in Bratislava (DNPB FMPI CU) has a long history of exploiting GPC for determination of 14 C activity of atmospheric CO 2 samples (Povinec et al. 1968(Povinec et al. , 2009(Povinec et al. , 2015a, tree rings (Attolini et al. 1989), groundwater (Povinec et al. 2010(Povinec et al. ,2013 and other samples (e.g., wood, charcoal, soil, mortar, peat) for dating purposes. In this study, we present results of 14 C dating of 11 bone samples which were processed only with a straightforward ABA method, followed by combustion. ...
Although radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry ( ¹⁴ C AMS) surpasses conventional radiometric methods in many aspects, they still represent an interesting alternative, especially for studies unconstrained by sample size. Here we showed that the gas proportional counting technique can be used for bone samples, processed only by a simple ABA method, and ethanol, distilled from wine samples. The feasibility of the described methods was verified by successful dating of 11 well-preserved vertebrate bones of modern to 21 kyr BP age excavated from different caves in Slovakia from which collagen was also extracted, as well as by determination of ¹⁴ C concentration in two modern western Slovakia vintages, which matches well the atmospheric Δ ¹⁴ C level for the respective region and grape vegetation period. Various empiric factors affecting the yield of the thoroughly tested procedures used for processing of samples and their optimization parameters are discussed as well.
... Even though we could not investigate all the studies, we have considered several published papers. We found studies showing that monitong activities for 14 C activity were performed continuously near NPPs for a long-term trend and with a constant time interval (monthly or annually), and some 14 C activity measurements for several different monitoring positions near NPPs have been performed over a specific time interval (Magnusson et al. 2004;Povinec et al. 2008Povinec et al. , 2009Povinec et al. , 2015. On the other hand, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is expected to open a new possibility to investigate the integrated 14 C impact of NPPs on the environment, since AMS is suitable mainly because of the accuracy obtanied with only a submilligram sample, which makes it easy to analyze a sufficient number of samples for a thorough investigation (Strensöm et al. 1996;Povinec et al. 2015). ...
... We found studies showing that monitong activities for 14 C activity were performed continuously near NPPs for a long-term trend and with a constant time interval (monthly or annually), and some 14 C activity measurements for several different monitoring positions near NPPs have been performed over a specific time interval (Magnusson et al. 2004;Povinec et al. 2008Povinec et al. , 2009Povinec et al. , 2015. On the other hand, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is expected to open a new possibility to investigate the integrated 14 C impact of NPPs on the environment, since AMS is suitable mainly because of the accuracy obtanied with only a submilligram sample, which makes it easy to analyze a sufficient number of samples for a thorough investigation (Strensöm et al. 1996;Povinec et al. 2015). However, to our knowledge, there are poor studies on NPPs monitoring using AMS in South Korea. ...
... Thus, we expect that no immediate measures are necessary to limit these emissions except at the position of the Ws01 and Ws02 samples (center of Wolsong NPP). As shown in Figure 4, the values at the position of the Ws01 and Ws02 samples are around or exceed 1000‰ as the Δ 14 C value, and it is reported that a value of around 1000‰ would deliver an important radiation dose component to the public (Povinec et al. 2015). Recent research on the effect of 14 C from the Fukushima NPP accident shows a similar result (Park et al. 2015;Xu et al. 2015). ...
Radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) is a radionuclide generated mainly through neutron-induced reactions in all types of nuclear reactors. Since most of the ¹⁴ C released into the environment is in the form of gaseous emissions (CO 2 and hydrocarbons), terrestrial plants are the primary indicators of increased ¹⁴ C levels near nuclear power plants (NPPs). In 2013–2014, we collected samples of silver grasses (including common reed) and pine needles within 3 km of four South Korean NPP centers and measured ¹⁴ C activities using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) at Seoul National University. The highest ¹⁴ C activities were observed, respectively, in Wolsong>Hanul>Kori>Hanbit [220, 143, 127, and 123% modern carbon (pMC)].
This is the first detailed study on ¹⁴C activity in the environment surrounding a nuclear facility in India. Samples of food matrices and wild plants from the off-site locations of the PHWR nuclear power plant (NPP) at Kaiga were analysed by liquid scintillation spectrometry, results were validated by accelerator mass spectrometry, and an extensive database (N = 142) was established. The stable isotope ratio of carbon (δ¹³C) in terrestrial plants varied from −33.5 to −23.3 ‰. The maximum excess ¹⁴C activity recorded in terrestrial biota was 44 Bq kg⁻¹C (19 pMC). About 75 % of the samples exhibited specific activity in the range 228–249 Bq kg⁻¹C (101–110 pMC). Statistical tests on the ¹⁴C specific activity dataset for 2.3–5, 5–10, and 10–20 km radial zones confirmed that the impact of the operation of the NPP on the environment beyond 5 km is minimal. The study suggests that the ¹⁴C activity released through gaseous effluents from Kaiga NPP is transported to greater distances along the axis of the valley than that predicted by the Gaussian plume model and those reported for other NPP sites worldwide. This is due to the unique topography of the Kaiga valley, in which flow channelling, strong winds in the valley mouth, and calm wind within the valley due to the blocking effect by hills for the south-westerly wind regime play dominant roles in the transport of gaseous effluents. The ¹⁴C specific activity values at upwind monitoring stations located at >5 km distance from the NPP during the south-westerly wind regime were higher than those observed during the north-easterly wind regime when the same monitoring stations were located on the downwind side. The ingestion dose to the population in the 2.3–5 km radius zone, attributable to the release of ¹⁴C from the NPP, was 0.75 μSv y⁻¹. This is a negligibly small fraction of the ICRP recommended dose limit of 1000 μSv y⁻¹ for the public from other than natural sources.
This is a detailed study on oxide (CO2) and reduced (hydrocarbons, CnHm) forms of ¹⁴C releases through gaseous effluents from the Kaiga nuclear power plant (NPP), on the West Coast of India, where 4 × 220 MW(e) pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs) are operating. The gaseous effluent from the common stack of reactor units 3 and 4 (each of 220 MW(e)) was sampled from 2017 to 2020 for ¹⁴C activity monitoring and analysed for ¹⁴C activity by liquid scintillation counting. The normalized release rate corresponding to the four-year monitoring period had a geometric mean value of 0.12 TBq GW(e)⁻¹ a⁻¹ (geometric standard deviation = 7.4), and the arithmetic mean with associated standard deviation was 0.75 ± 1.47 TBq GW(e)⁻¹ a⁻¹. The relative percentage contribution of reduced form (CH4) of ¹⁴C species was less than 1.27% of the total release. The normalized release rate from Kaiga NPP was similar to those reported for the other PHWR NPPs of the world. The ¹⁴C specific activity in the ambient air in the vicinity of the NPP was monitored at four locations. The maximum excess ¹⁴C activity values in the ambient air in the vicinity of the NPP, evaluated by comparing the specific activity recorded for the clean air region at ∼300 km from the NPP, were 65.1 Bq kg⁻¹C (28.76 pMC) and 222.4 Bq kg⁻¹C (98.23 pMC) for the years 2019 and 2020 respectively. In addition, the release rates were calculated from the Gaussian plume model using site-specific atmospheric dilution factors and the excess ¹⁴C specific activity measured at four off-site monitoring stations. The calculated values of release rates were in agreement (within a factor of ∼3) with the measured values.
In this paper, the sampling and monitoring methods of atmospheric ¹⁴C around Ningde NPP were presented, and the variations and trends during 2013–2021 were statistically analyzed and comparatively studied with worldwide reported values around NPPs. Meanwhile, the correlation study with the gaseous effluent emission amount from Ningde NPP was analyzed, and the spatial distribution of the atmospheric ¹⁴C around Ningde NPP was simulated with the atmospheric release based on the long-term meteorological parameters with the plume diffusion model. It was shown that the average specific activity of atmospheric ¹⁴C at each sampling site ranged from 229 to 230 mBq/gC, and the weak evidence of influence on the nearest sampling site from the release of the NPP could be observed. Seasonal variations of ¹⁴C specific activity were analyzed, and it was shown that, except for the site 1.7 km from the NPP, the specific activity of the atmospheric ¹⁴C was higher in summer and autumn and lower in winter and spring. Besides, it was shown that the excess ¹⁴C for long-term monitoring results around the NPP was consistent with the simulated values on the order of magnitude.
Radionuclides in the environment originating from natural (cosmogenic, primordial, and radiogenic) and anthropogenic sources are shortly reviewed. The main focus is on anthropogenic radionuclides of global fallout and from the Chernobyl accident with emphasis on pre-Fukushima ¹³⁷Cs, ⁹⁰Sr, ¹²⁹I, ³H, and ¹⁴C levels in the terrestrial and marine environments.
Building materials can pose a radiation hazard to humans, as well as to workers
exposed to them on a daily basis, due to increased levels of radioactivity. This paper
presents a gamma spectrometric analysis of 40 granite samples, 4 natural gypsum
samples, 8 phosphogypsum samples, and 41 zircon minerals samples used in Serbia.
Activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were determined for all samples. All
samples have a high level of radioactivity, thus their gamma index is greater than 1. For
granite and phosphogypsum samples, the radiation risk from building use was evaluated,
while for zircon minerals samples the radiation risk was estimated for workers in Serbian
ceramic industries exposed to radiation for 800 h per year. Radon exhalation rate and
indoor radon concentration were evaluated for all samples. For phosphogypsum samples,
the radionuclide distribution in different fractions of the sample was monitored and the
emanation coefficient of radon by RAD7 device was measured. All obtained values were compared with similar studies in the world as with the recommended values when
assessing radiation risk from radiation exposure.
A radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) activity analysis in the tree rings around Ignalina nuclear power plant (INPP) has been carried out with the aim to test the hypothesis to use ¹⁴ C tree-ring analysis data as a tool for the reconstruction of gaseous releases from NPP to the environment. The INPP has been in decommissioning state since the end of 2009. Tree-ring samples for ¹⁴ C analysis were collected 7 yr after final power unit shutdown from the INPP vicinity. The samples from 5 sampling locations were collected, prepared and measured using the Single Stage Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (SSAMS). Data analysis represents observable Ignalina NPP influence by ¹⁴ C increase up to 15 pMC (percent modern carbon) in tree rings. Good correlations of the ¹⁴ C concentrations and wind direction were obtained. The main purpose of this article was to match ¹⁴ C measurement data along with the atmospheric dispersion modeling of emissions in order to retrospectively characterize the emission source.
