Determination of 3H and 14C in the Dry Active Wastes (DAW) generated from the Light Water Reactors (LWR) by a wet oxidation method

Abstract

3H and 14C Measurements of the dry active waste (DAW), such as the cotton, paper, and vinyl, generated from a nuclear power plant (NPP) were conducted with wet oxidation using open vessel equipment based on simulation results. The recovery efficiency with the simulated samples was around 93% with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 1–3%. A liquid scintillation counter (LSC) was used for counting and adjusted to a quenching correction curve. The counting value was evaluated for the minimum detectable activity (MDA), which was found to be about 4 × 10−1 Bq/g for 3H and 2 × 10−2 for 14C when approximately 5 g of the samples were measured. The measured DAW samples for the cotton, paper, and vinyl generated from NPP achieved of RSD values of 25, 25, and 60%, respectively, for 3H and 0–50% for 14C.