VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 Espoo, VTT, Finland.
Fortum Power & Heat Oy Loviisan Voimalaitos, P.O. Box 23, 07901 Loviisa, Finland.
Anal Chem. 2021 Dec 7;93(48):16096-16104. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.1c03814. Epub 2021 Nov 23.
There are currently no suitable methods for sensitive automated in situ monitoring of gaseous radiocarbon, one of the main sources of radioactive gas emissions from nuclear power plants. Here, we present a transportable instrument for in situ airborne radiocarbon detection based on mid-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy and report its performance in a 1-week field measurement at the Loviisa nuclear power plant. Radiocarbon is detected by measuring an absorption line of the CO molecule. The time resolution of the measurements is 45 min, significantly less than the few days' resolution of the currently used technique, while maintaining a comparable sensitivity. The method can also assess the prevalence of radiocarbon in different molecular species in the airborne emissions. The optical in situ monitoring presented is a completely new method for monitoring emissions from nuclear facilities.
目前，还没有合适的方法可以对来自核电站的主要放射性气体排放源之一的气态放射性碳进行敏感的自动原位监测。在这里，我们提出了一种基于中红外腔衰荡光谱的可运输原位空气放射性碳检测仪器，并报告了其在洛伊夏核电站为期一周的现场测量中的性能。通过测量 CO 分子的吸收线来检测放射性碳。测量的时间分辨率为 45 分钟，明显低于目前使用的技术的数天分辨率，同时保持了相当的灵敏度。该方法还可以评估空气中排放物中不同分子物种的放射性碳的流行程度。所提出的光学原位监测是一种用于监测核设施排放的全新方法。
