Concentration of radiocarbon and its chemical forms in gaseous effluents, environmental air, nuclear waste and primary water of a pressurized water reactor power plant in Hungary

Abstract

Airborne releases of 14C from the Paks pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant (NPP) were measured. Two continuous stack samplers collect 14C in 14CO2 and 14CnHm chemical forms. 14C activities were measured using two techniques; environmental air samples of lower activities were analyzed by proportional counting, stack samples were measured by liquid scintillation counting. The discharge rate from Paks nuclear power plant is about four times higher than the mean discharge value of a typical Western European PWR NPP. The higher 14C production may be apportioned to the higher level of nitrogen impurities in the primary coolant. -from Authors