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Determining the amounts of organically bound tritium and radiocarbon using a combined preparation step and liquid scintillation spectrometry

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Abstract

The ideal method for monitoring the environment should be rapid, low cost, and sufficiently sensitive to detect any changes caused by nuclear facilities during their normal operation. A combined initial preparation step for environmental samples in the detection of organically bound tritium (OBT) and radiocarbon (14C) makes the analytical process quicker, while the use of a Parr 1121 large-capacity oxygen vessel, which allows the combustion of around 20 g of dried organic sample, reduces the detection limits for both parameters. The method was validated with inter-laboratory intercomparisons for the OBT and a comparison with the official values of environmental samples for the 14C.

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Acknowledgements

Sampling of the organic environmental samples around KNPP was performed together with personnel from Laboratory for Low Level Radioactivities at the Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia. We want to thank Polona Gerjol for her involvement in the practical part of this research, as well as for her constructive suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Sanitary Engineering, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Ljubljana, Zdravstvena pot 5, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Romana Krištof

  2. Department for Low and Medium Energy Physics, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Romana Krištof, Natasha Chipanovska & Jasmina Kožar Logar

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  1. Romana Krištof
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  2. Natasha Chipanovska
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  3. Jasmina Kožar Logar
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All authors have participated in (a) Conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of the data; (b) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (c) Approval of the final version.

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Correspondence to Natasha Chipanovska.

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Krištof, R., Chipanovska, N. & Kožar Logar, J. Determining the amounts of organically bound tritium and radiocarbon using a combined preparation step and liquid scintillation spectrometry. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 1521–1526 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08586-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08586-6

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