Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-956mj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-16T00:37:44.640Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Terrestrial Distribution of 14C in the Vicinity of Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2016

Zhongtang Wang ,
Yuanyi Xiang  and
Qiuju Guo
Zhongtang Wang
Affiliation:
1State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Yuanyi Xiang
Affiliation:
2Environmental Radiation Monitoring Center of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou 310012, China
Qiuju Guo*
Affiliation:
1State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
*
3Corresponding author. Email: qjguo@pku.edu.cn.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We used accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to study radiocarbon-specific activity levels in agricultural and botanical samples (moss and pine needles) distributed within a 6.5-km radius of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The 14C-specific activity in moss samples (ranging from 265.6 to 223.0 Bq/kg C) decreased with increased distance from the stacks of Plant III (heavy water reactor) and reached the background level (223.8 Bq/kg C) at 6.5 km distance. Compared to the pine needles, the moss was a better indicator for investigating the 14C distribution near Qinshan NPP. The 14C-specific activity distribution in moss samples showed that the diffusion of 14C discharged from the Qinshan NPP was affected by both geographical and meteorological factors. Excess 14C-specific activity in the food samples ranged from 8.5 to 13.0 Bq/kg C (except for rice samples), resulting in a minimal radiation dose of 0.5 μSv per year to the public.

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , 2013 , pp. 59 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 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

China National Nuclear Corporation [CNNC]. 1990. Basic requirements of biological sampling on environmental radiation monitoring. No. EJ 527–90. Beijing: CNNC. In Chinese.Google Scholar
Dias, CM, Santos, RV, Stenström, K, Nícoli, IG, Corrêa, RS, Skog, G. 2008. 14C content in vegetation in the vicinities of Brazilian nuclear power reactors. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 99(7):1095–10.Google Scholar
International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]. 2001. Generic Models for use in Assessing the Impact of Discharges of Radioactive Substances to the Environment. Safety Reports Series 19. Vienna: IAEA.Google Scholar
International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]. 2004. Management of Waste Containing Tritium and Carbon-14. Technical Report Series No 421. Vienna: IAEA.Google Scholar
International Commission on Radiological Protection [ICRP]. 1991. 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. ICRP Publication No 60. Ottawa: ICRP.Google Scholar
Killough, GG, Rohwcr, PS. 1978. A new look at the dosimetry of 14C released to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Health Physics 34(2):141–5.Google Scholar
Kim, CK, Lee, SK, Rho, BH, Lee, YG. 2000. Environmental distribution and behavior of 3H and 14C around Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant. Health Physics 78(6):693–9.Google Scholar
Levin, I, Kromer, B. 2004. The tropospheric 14CO2 level in mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (1959–2003). Radiocarbon 46(3):1261–72.Google Scholar
Liu, KX, Ding, XF, Fu, DP, Pan, Y, Wu, XH, Guo, ZY, Zhou, LP. 2007b. The AMS measurement of VIRI samples at Peking University. Quaternary Sciences 27(3):469–7. In Chinese.Google Scholar
Magnusson, Å, Stenström, K, Skog, G, Adliene, D, Adlys, G, Hellborg, R, Olariu, A, Zakaria, M, Rääf, C, Mattsson, S. 2004. Levels of 14C in the terrestrial environment in the vicinity of two European nuclear power plants. Radiocarbon 46(2):863–8.Google Scholar
Magnusson, Å, Stenström, K, Adliene, D, Adlys, G, Dias, C, Rääf, C, Skog, G, Zakaria, M, Mattsson, S. 2007. Carbon-14 levels in the vicinity of the Lithuanian nuclear power plant Ignalina. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 259(1):530–5.Google Scholar
Mikhajlov, ND, Kolkovsky, VM, Pavlova, ID. 1999. Radiocarbon distribution in Northwest Belarus near the Ignalina nuclear power plant. Radiocarbon 41(1):759.Google Scholar
Milton, GM, Kramer, SJ, Brown, RM, Repta, CJW, King, KJ, Rao, RR. 1995. Radiocarbon dispersion around Canadian nuclear facilities. Radiocarbon 37(2):485–9.Google Scholar
National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements [NCRP]. 1985. Carbon-14 in the Environment. NCRP report No 81. Bethesda: NCRP.Google Scholar
Roussel-Debet, S, Gontier, G, Siclet, F, Fournier, M. 2006. Distribution of carbon 14 in the terrestrial environment close to French nuclear power plants. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 87(3):246–5.Google Scholar
Scott, EM. 2003. The Third International Radiocarbon Intercomparison (TIRI) and the Fourth International Radiocarbon Intercomparison (FIRI), 1990–2002. Results, Analyses, and Conclusions. Radiocarbon 45(2):135–408.Google Scholar
Stenström, K, Skog, G, Thornberg, C, Erlandsson, B, Hellborg, R, Mattsson, S, Persson, P. 1998. 14C levels in the vicinity of two Swedish nuclear power plants and at two “clean air” sites in Sweden. Radiocarbon 40(1):433–8.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, HA. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation [UNSCEAR]. 2000. Sources and Effects of Ionizing Radiation. New York: UNSCEAR.Google Scholar
Xu, XM, Trumbore, SE, Zheng, SH, Southon, JR, McDuffee, KE, Luttgen, M, Liu, JC. 2007. Modifying a sealed tube zinc reduction method for preparation of AMS graphite targets: reducing background and attaining high precision. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 259(1):320–9.Google Scholar