Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy Analysis of Radiocarbon from Nuclear Waste Materials.

Radiocarbon analysis of nuclear waste produced in nuclear facilities lacks fast, in situ detection methods. Moreover, the amount of radiocarbon desorbing from graphitic waste is not well known. In this study, we demonstrate the use of mid-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy combined with an automatic sample processing unit as a method to examine radiocarbon concentration in three types of nuclear waste: spent ion-exchange resin, graphite, and graphite outgassing in sealed storage crates.

137Cs, 239,240Pu and 241Am in boreal forest soil and their transfer into wild mushrooms and berries.

Profiles of podzolic soil from boreal forests were sampled from eight sites in Finland and the distribution of (137)Cs in the soil layers was determined. In addition, (239,240)Pu and (241)Am were determined from two soil profiles taken at one sampling site. Inventories of (137)Cs in the soil profiles varied between 1.