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Measurement of the carbon 14 activity at natural level in air samples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 June 2005

J.C. Barescut ,
J.C. Gariel ,
J.M. Péres ,
A. Olivier ,
L. Tenailleau ,
Y. Baron ,
D. Maro  and
M. Fontugne
A. Olivier
Affiliation:
Marine Nationale, École des Applications Militaires de l'Énergie Atomique, Département Groupe d'Études Atomiques, BP. 19, 50115 Cherbourg Armées, France
L. Tenailleau
Affiliation:
Marine Nationale, École des Applications Militaires de l'Énergie Atomique, Département Groupe d'Études Atomiques, BP. 19, 50115 Cherbourg Armées, France
Y. Baron
Affiliation:
Marine Nationale, École des Applications Militaires de l'Énergie Atomique, Département Groupe d'Études Atomiques, BP. 19, 50115 Cherbourg Armées, France
D. Maro
Affiliation:
Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Laboratoire de Radioécologie de Cherbourg-Octeville, 50130 Cherbourg-Octeville, France
M. Fontugne
Affiliation:
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, UMR 1572-CEA/CNRS, Domaine du CNRS, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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Abstract

The aim of the study was to measure the carbon 14 activity at natural level in air samples using classical methods of radiochemistry and beta counting. Three different methods have been tested in order to minimise the detection limit. In the three methods, the first step consists in trapping the atmospheric carbon 14 into NaOH (1N) using a bubbling chamber. The atmospheric carbon dioxide reacts with NaOH to form Na2CO3. In the first method the Na2CO3 solution is mixed with a liquid scintillate and is directly analysed by liquid scintillation counting (LSC). The detection limit is approximately 0.3 Bq.m-3 of air samples. The second method consists in evaporating the carbonate solution and then counting the solid residue with a proportional gas circulation counter. The detection limit obtained is equivalent to the first method (0.36 Bq.m-3 of air samples). In the third method, Na2CO3 is precipitated into CaCO3 in presence of CaCl2. CaCO3 is then analysed by LSC. This method appears to be the most appropriate, the detection limit is 0.04 Bq.m-3 of air samples.

Type
Research Article
Information
Radioprotection , Volume 40 , Issue S1 , May 2005 , pp. S791 - S796
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2005

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