Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T11:29:22.555Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

14C High Concentration Measurements with Relevance for Decommissioning of Nuclear Reactors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2019

M Enachescu  and
C Stan-Sion Open the ORCID record for C Stan-Sion [Opens in a new window]
M Enachescu
Affiliation:
Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), 30 Reactorului Street, Magurele-Ilfov, Romania
C Stan-Sion*
Affiliation:
Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH), 30 Reactorului Street, Magurele-Ilfov, Romania
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Decommissioning of nuclear reactors requires determination of all remnant long-lived isotopes that were produced during their long functioning time of the respective facilities. Radiocarbon (14C) is such an isotope (T1/2 = 5730 yr), widely produced by neutron reactions in a thermal column of a nuclear reactor. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) uses 14C for precise dating of up to 50,000 years old archaeological artifacts. This study presents a premier AMS measurement of high concentrated 14C samples that are strictly forbidden in laboratories dedicated to perform 14C dating. The determined 14C activities range from the natural level (isotopic ratio 14C/12C = 1.2 × 10–12) up to values of 10,000 times higher. 14C bulk and depth profile concentrations were measured in the thermal column disks of a decommissioned nuclear reactor. Results have shown that the 14C concentration in the thermal column, close the reactor core is about 75 kBq/g and decreases to 0.7 Bq/g and the end of the column. Such AMS measurements are applicable for decommissioning and waste management of nuclear reactors.

Keywords

accelerator mass spectrometry14C high concentrationsdecommissioning of nuclear reactors
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , April 2019 , pp. 435 - 444
Copyright
© 2018 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Canzone, G, Lo Frano, R, Sumini, M, Troiani, F. 2016. Dismantling of the graphite pile of Latina NPP: Characterization and handling/removal equipment for single brick or multi-bricks. Progress in Nuclear Energy 93:146–154.Google Scholar
Catana, D, Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M, Plostinaru, VD, Vata, I, Rohrer, L. 2001. Design and construction of a Wien velocity filter for AMS facilities. Rom. J. Phys. 46(9–10):595–602.Google Scholar
Currie, LA. 2004. The remarkable metrological history of radiocarbon dating [II]. J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. 109:185–217.Google Scholar
Enachescu, M, Lazarev, V, Stan-Sion, C. 2006. Unfolding procedure for AMS depth profiling. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys 39:2876–2880.Google Scholar
Enachescu, M. 2017. Accelerator mass spectroscopy measurements of the deuterium inventory in the Tore Supra toroidal limiter. UPB Scientific Bulletin, Series A: Applied Mathematics and Physics 79(4):337–348.Google Scholar
IAEA. 2007. NBS 22, IAEA-CH-3, IAEA-CH-6, IAEA-CH-7, USGS24 reference sheet issue date: 3 August 2007. https://nucleus.iaea.org/rpst/Documents/RS_NBS22_USGS24_IAEA-CH-3-6-7.pdf Google Scholar
Ionescu, E, Gurau, D, Stanga, D, Duliu, OG. 2012. Decommissioning of the VVR-S research reactor – radiological characterization of the reactor block. Romanian Reports in Physics 64(2):387–398.Google Scholar
Jones, GA, Jull, AJT, Linick, TW, Donahue, DJ. 1989. Radiocarbon dating of deep-sea sediments: a comparison of accelerator mass spectrometer and beta-decay methods. Radiocarbon 31(2):105–116.Google Scholar
Kutschera, W. 2000. Accelerator mass spectrometry at VERA. Proceedings of EPAC 2000, Vienna, Austria. p. 245–249.Google Scholar
McNamara, N, McCartney, M, Scott, EM. 1997. A review of 14C waste arising from the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom. Radiocarbon 40(1):425–432.Google Scholar
Mobbs, S, Shaw, G, Norris, S, Marang, L, Sumerling, T, Albrecht, A, Xu, S, Thorne, M, Limer, L, Smith, K, Smith, G. 2013. Intercomparison of models of 14C in the biosphere for solid radioactive waste disposal. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):814–825.Google Scholar
Muller, RA, Stephenson, EJ, Mast, TS. 1978. Radioisotope dating with an accelerator: A blind measurement. Science 201(4353):347–348.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M. 2015. AMS method for depth profiling of trace elements concentration in materials – Construction and applications. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 361:250–256.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Ivascu, M, Plostinaru, D, Catana, D, Marinescu, L, Radulescu, M, Nolte, E. 2000. AMS at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Engineering in Bucharest. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 172(1–4):29–33.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M, Constantinescu, O, Dogaru, M. 2010. A decade of experiments and recent upgrading at the AMS facility in Bucharest. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 268(7–8):863–866.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M, Ghita, DG, Calinescu, CI, Petre, A, Mosu, DV, Klein, M. 2014a. A new AMS facility based on a Cockcroft-Walton type 1 MV tandetron at IFIN-HH Magurele, Romania. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 319:117–122.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M, Petre, AR, Duma, M, Ghita, DG, Kizane, G, Baumane, L, Gabrusenkos, J, Halivotos, M, Avotina, L, Zarnis, A, Likonen, , Koivuranta, S, Kiisk, M. 2014b. Comparison of tritium measurement techniques for a laser cleaned JET tile, Fusion Energy and Design 89(11):2628–2634.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Enachescu, M, Petre, AR, Simion, CA, Calinescu, CI, Ghita, DG. 2015. A new and compact system at the AMS laboratory in Bucharest. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 361:105–109.Google Scholar
Stan-Sion, C, Bekris, N, Kizane, G, Enachescu, M, Likonen, J, Halitovs, M, Petre, AR, JET contributors. 2016. Tritium retention measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry and full combustion of W-coated and uncoated CFC tiles from the JET divertor. Nuclear Fusion 56:046015.Google Scholar
Vaitkevičiene, V, Mažeika, J, Skuratovič, Ž, Motiejūnas, S, Vaidotas, A, Oryšaka, A, Ovčinikov, S. 2013. 14C in radioactive waste for decommissioning of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant. Radiocarbon 55(2–3):783–790.Google Scholar
Wareing, A, Abrahamsen-Mills, L, Fowler, L, Grave, M, Jarvis, R, Metcalfe, M, Norris, S, Banford, AW. 2017. Development of integrated waste management options for irradiated graphite. Nuclear Engineering and Technology 49(5):1010–1018.Google Scholar