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14C Levels in the Vicinity of Two Swedish Nuclear Power Plants and at Two “Clean-Air” Sites in Southernmost Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Kristina Stenström ,
Göran Skog ,
Charlotte Thornberg ,
Bengt Erlandsson ,
Ragnar Hellborg ,
Sören Mattsson  and
Per Persson
Kristina Stenström
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, Sölvegatan 14, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Göran Skog
Affiliation:
Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Department of Quaternary Geology, Lund University, Tornavägen 13, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Charlotte Thornberg
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
Bengt Erlandsson
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, Sölvegatan 14, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Ragnar Hellborg
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, Sölvegatan 14, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
Sören Mattsson
Affiliation:
Department of Radiation Physics, Lund University, Malmö University Hospital, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
Per Persson
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, Sölvegatan 14, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden
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Abstract

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14C is one of the radionuclides that are produced to different degrees by neutron-induced reactions in all types of nuclear reactors. Part of the 14C created is continuously released into the surrounding environment during normal operation as airborne effluents in various chemical forms (such as CO2, CO and hydrocarbons) through the ventilation system of the plant. Because of the biological importance of carbon and the long half-life of 14C, it is of interest to measure the releases and their incorporation into living material. We report here on the 14C activity concentrations in annual tree rings and the air around two Swedish nuclear power plants, as well as the background 14C activity levels from two reference sites in southern Sweden from 1973–1996. We used both accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and decay counting in the investigation.

Type
Part 1: Methods
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 40 , Issue 1: 16th International Radiocarbon Conference 16-20,1997 Groningen , 1997 , pp. 433 - 438
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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