Abstract—
A radiometric method for measuring the 14C activity in irradiated graphite samples has been developed. The samples of graphite blocks used in the experiments have been taken from graphite stacks of uranium−graphite reactors that are being prepared for decommissioning and subsequent dismantling. The 14C radionuclide, which poses a radioecological hazard, is produced in reactor graphite during neutron irradiation and has a half-life of 5730 years. Therefore, the 14C content of radioactive waste produced upon dismantling of graphite stacks and elements of technological constructions must be monitored during decommissioning of uranium−graphite reactors. Taking the total volume of graphite in uranium−graphite reactors into account, it is desirable that a method for prompt monitoring of the 14C concentration in graphite be available. The radiometric method whose implementation is described here may be suitable for this purpose.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Bushuev, A.V., Kozhin, A.F., Petrova, E.V., Zubarev, V.N., Aleeva, T.B., and Girke, N.A., Radioaktivnyi reaktornyi grafit (Radioactive Reactor Graphite), Moscow: National Research Nuclear Univ., Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, 2015.
Khvostova, M.S., Izv. Tomsk. Politekh. Univ., 2012, vol. 302, no. 1, p. 184.
Ramenkov, A.A., Rosenergoatom, 2011, no. 03, p. 32.
http://www.greenstar.ru/ckc-07p-b11.html.
Bushuev, A.V., Petrova, E.V., Kozhin, A.F., Shtyfurko, A.I., and Masalov, D.P., At. Energ., 2006, vol. 101, no. 5, p. 358.
Wickeder, D.A., R. Soc. Chem., Spec. Publ., 1999, vol. 234, p. 170.
Girke, N.A., Bushuev, A.V., Kozhin, A.F., Petrova, E.V., Aleeva, T.B., and Zubarev, V.N., At. Energ., 2012, vol. 112, no. 1, p. 51.
https://www.hamamatsu.com/resources/pdf/etd/ R10601_-100_TPMH1334E.pdf.
Simirskii, Iu., Stepanov, A., Semin, I., and Volkovich, A., Proc. GLOBAL 2017: Int. Nuclear Fuel Cycle Conference, Seoul, September 24–29, 2017, A-042. http:// www.global2017.org/.
Postanovlenie Pravitel’stva RF ot 19.10.2012 no. 1069. (redaktsiya ot 04.02.2015) “O kriteriyakh otneseniya tverdykh, zhidkikh i gazoobraznykh otkhodov k radioaktivnym otkhodam, kriteriyakh otneseniya radioaktivnykh otkhodov k osobym radioaktivnym otkhodam i k udalyaemym radioaktivnym otkhodam i kriteriyakh klassifikatsii udalyaemykh radioaktivnykh otkhodov” (RF Governmental Decree no. 1069, October 19, 2012 (Ed. February 4, 2015) “On Criteria for Referring Solid, Liquid, and Gas Waste to Nuclear Waste, Criteria for Referring Nuclear Waste to Special Nuclear Waste and to Removable Nuclear Waste, and Criteria for Classifying Removable Nuclear Waste”), Moscow, 2015.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We are very grateful to D.A. Kuleshov for providing the samples of irradiated graphite from the Leningrad NPP. We are also grateful to the management of the Pilot and Demonstration Center for Decommissioning of Uranium-Graphite Nuclear Reactors for the scientific and technical cooperation on the problem of irradiated graphite of industrial reactors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Translated by N. Goryacheva
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ignatov, S.M., Potapov, V.N., Simirskii, I.N. et al. A Radiometric Method for Measuring the 14С Activity in Irradiated Graphite. Instrum Exp Tech 62, 393–400 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020441219020192
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0020441219020192