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A Review of 14C Waste Arising from the Nuclear Industry in the United Kingdom

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Niall McNamara ,
Martin McCartney  and
E. M. Scott
Niall McNamara
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park East Kilbride, G75 0QU, United Kingdom
Martin McCartney
Affiliation:
Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre, Scottish Enterprise Technology Park East Kilbride, G75 0QU, United Kingdom
E. M. Scott
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Glasgow, University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QW United Kingdom
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Abstract

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We report on a review of 14C production and release from the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom (UK). Using earlier predictions (Bush, White and Smith 1984) it is estimated that a total of 1764 TBq of 14C would have been produced in UK graphite-moderated reactors up to the end of 1995, and 135 TBq of this total would have been released. Release rates, based on reported discharges, of 5.1 and 0.93 TBq GW(e)a-1 have been derived for Magnox reactors and Advanced Gas Cooled Reactors (AGRs), respectively. Using these new figures, cumulative discharges of 14C up to 1995 from reactors have been estimated at 531 TBq. The combination of these reactor discharges and the reported discharges from Sellafield (388 TBq) and Amersham (52 TBq) suggest a total cumulative release of 971 TBq of 14C up to the end of 1995.

Type
Part 1: Methods
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 40 , Issue 1: 16th International Radiocarbon Conference 16-20,1997 Groningen , 1997 , pp. 425 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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