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On-Line Monitoring of Radiocarbon Emissions in a Nuclear Facility with Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy

2021; American Chemical Society; Volume: 93; Issue: 48 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1021/acs.analchem.1c03814

1520-6882

Johannes Lehmuskoski, Hannu Vasama, Jussi Hämäläinen, Jouni Hokkinen, Teemu Kärkelä, Katja Heiskanen, Matti Reinikainen, Satu Rautio, Miska Hirvelä, Guillaume Genoud,

Atmospheric Ozone and Climate

There are currently no suitable methods for sensitive automated in situ monitoring of gaseous radiocarbon, one of the main sources of radioactive gas emissions from nuclear power plants. Here, we present a transportable instrument for in situ airborne radiocarbon detection based on mid-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy and report its performance in a 1-week field measurement at the Loviisa nuclear power plant. Radiocarbon is detected by measuring an absorption line of the 14CO2 molecule. The time resolution of the measurements is 45 min, significantly less than the few days' resolution of the currently used technique, while maintaining a comparable sensitivity. The method can also assess the prevalence of radiocarbon in different molecular species in the airborne emissions. The optical in situ monitoring presented is a completely new method for monitoring emissions from nuclear facilities.