Volume 3, Issue 2

Short note

Radiochemistry

DETERMINATION OF CARBON-14 AND TRITIUM IN IRRADIATED REACTOR GRAPHITE

Iurii Simirskii, Alexey Stepanov, Ilia Semin, Anatoly Volkovich

Pages: 88-90

DOI: 10.21175/RadJ.2018.02.014

Received: 17 MAY 2018, Received revised: 19 OCT 2018, Accepted: 18 NOV 2018, Published online: 27 DEC 2018

In order to determine 14C in irradiated graphite, a method based on the oxidation of the graphite in the oxygen flow was used. This method makes it possible to visually monitor the end of the process and simultaneously separate 14C from 137Cs and 90Sr, which interfere with its determination. This method was used to analyze irradiated graphite samples from the research reactor RFT (NRC Kurchatov Institute) and the RBMK Leningrad nuclear power plant. The concentrations of 14C and 3H in the irradiated graphite of the reactor RFT were insignificant, except for those in the active zone. In this zone, the concentrations of 14C and 3H increased by more than two orders of magnitude up to 107 Bq/kg that corresponded to their activation nature. 137Cs and 90Sr are the main radionuclides contaminating the RFT reactor irradiated graphite that reveals their crash origin. In the RBMK Leningrad nuclear power plant, irradiated graphite was mainly contaminated with 14C, although fission products 137Cs and 90Sr also make a significant contribution.
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