Radiocarbon level in the Atmosphere of Ramnicu Valcea, Romania

ABSTRACTThis paper presents radiocarbon (14C) variations in the atmosphere from Ramnicu Valcea, Romania. The samples were collected in the vicinity of the Experimental Pilot Plant for Tritium and Deuterium Separation (PESTD) from the Institute of the Cryogenics and Isotopic Technologies (ICSI) placed about 10 km south from the Ramnicu Valcea city (Romania), in the Govora industrial area. This facility is an experimental project in the national nuclear energy research program, which has the aim of developing technologies for tritium separation from heavy water. It should be noted that in the Govora industrial area operates a 315 MW coal-fired thermoelectric power plant and two chemical plants. In order to determine radiocarbon activity in the atmosphere, samples were collected monthly by absorption of CO2 into sodium hydroxide (NaOH) at Ramnicu Valcea. In addition, control materials (tree leaves, wild vegetation, and grapes), known activity standards, and process blanks (marble) were analyzed. Radiocarbon measurements were performed using the direct absorption method and liquid scintillation counting. The measured Δ14C levels varied between –57‰ and 61‰. The results have a decreasing trend, but due to local influence caused by the continuous production of fossil CO2, we cannot observe Δ14C seasonal variations.