A critical review of radiocarbon in environment

Abstract

Radiocarbon is a radionuclide of considerable interest due to its long half-life and high environmental mobility. Since carbon is the biological backbone of the biosphere, radiocarbon can incorporate very quickly into the natural carbon cycle. Considering the importance of the radionuclide, articles on radiocarbon research belonging to various fields: age dating, soil dynamics, environmental mobility, metrology, nuclear research, and radiological impact were reviewed to provide an overview about the radiocarbon starting from its origin to management to reduce the radiological hazard. The review also highlighted less explored research areas such as: (a) impact of seasonal variation on environmental dynamics of 14C, (b) root uptake of 14C or transfer from contaminated soil to vegetation, (c) data of model parameters for radiological environmental impact assessment, (d) impact of climate change on C dynamics in the environment and (e) development of technologies for 14C management in nuclear waste, which needs to be more explored in future research. Furthermore, the review shows that environmental 14C dynamics, transport modelling, and radiological impact assessment modelling studies are less explored in non-temperate regions and need more attention in future research.