Applying direct liquid scintillation counting to low level tritium measurement

Varlam, Carmen; Ștefănescu, Ioan; Duliu, O. G.; Făurescu, Ionut; Popescu, Irina

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2009.01.023

Cited by 44 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…The variation coefficient of counts for all liquids having similar concentration of tritium was 4.8%. Counting was performed in a multi‐purpose scintillation counter model LS 6500 (Beckman, Fullerton, Calif., U.S.A.) having an average efficiency of the counting process of 39.5% determined by counting a Tritium Quench Set, Standard Vials (Beckman Coulter, Brea, Calif., U.S.A.) (Varlam and others 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During this extended period the rate of liquid exchange is difficult to estimate by traditional gravimetric analysis because of high loss of solids and disintegration of the matrix occurring at the later stages (Machado and others 1998). One way of quantifying the amount of liquid infiltrated into a complex matrix is to use tritium as a radioactive tracer (Galeriu and others 2007; Wang and others 2008; Valenzuela 2009; Varlam and others 2009). In the case of cereal flakes adding tritiated water to the soaking medium would allow distinguish between the actual liquid absorbed by the cereal microstructure (LA) and that retained on the surface, hereafter referred to as surface liquid adhesion (SLA).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Uptake of Tritiated Liquids by Individual Breakfast Cereal Flakes

Medina

Laurent²,

Brandan³

et al. 2010

Journal of Food Science

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Surface liquid adhesion (SLA) and liquid absorption (LA) of tritiated liquids, including water and skim, low-fat, whole, and fat-enriched milks, by cornflakes (CF) and frosted flakes (FF) were determined by scintillation counting using water-[(3)H] at 0.5 microCi/mL. SLA or the liquid adhering to individual flakes after a short immersion period was the same for CF and FF in the case of water (approximately 0.011 microL mm(-2) of flake) but were always higher for CF than for FF and increased as the fat content in milks augmented. LA of individual flakes, followed for 300 s of soaking, increased with time and was always higher for CF than for FF (for the same liquid), however, data did not follow a regular pattern. Flakes showed quite compact outer surfaces and an internal porous matrix composed of air cells of various sizes separated by dense walls of different thicknesses. This heterogeneous microstructure of individual flakes may be the cause of the lack of a simple kinetics during the soaking process. Previous results obtained by soaking a mass of flakes overestimated the uptake of fluid by individual because they included the liquid occluded between the flakes.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uptake of Tritiated Liquids by Individual Breakfast Cereal Flakes

Medina

Laurent²,

Brandan³

et al. 2010

Journal of Food Science

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“…As tritium free blank water we have used a deuterium depleted water with a D/(D?H) value below 15 ppm [9]. In pre-measurement distillation step analytical grade anhydrous Na 2 CO 3 and Na 2 S 2 O 3 (UTCHIM, Romania) were used.…”

Section: Reagents Standard Solution Materials and Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitromethane and other quenching agents used to determine the tritium activity concentration by liquid scintillation spectroscopy

Varlam

Făurescu

Vagner

et al. 2014

J Radioanal Nucl Chem

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The quenching properties of nitromethane, nitric acid, acetone and saturated solutions of chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, dichloro-methane, and a blend of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform mixed with an Ultima Gold uLLT liquid scintillation cocktail were investigated by using a Quantulus 1220 as well as TRICARB 2800TR liquid scintillation counters. With respect to all investigated quenching agents, nitromethane showed higher quenching action and solubility as well as a remarkable time stability. The implications of this finding for further routine tritium determinations are presented and discussed.

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“…Tritium standards were internal standard capsules containing a tritium-labeled organic compound [fructose-1-3 H] provided by PerkinElmer. Tritium-free water (blank water) was deuterium-depleted water with a D/(DH) value of 15 ppm (Varlam et al 2009). Counting efficiency at the best factor of merit was between 24.84% and 25.02%, and the background between 0.714 ± 0.016 and 0.748 ± 0.017 cpm (counts per minute), following a minimum detectable activity of around 4 TU (confidence level of 2 ).…”

Section: Sampling and Measurement Techniquesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiocarbon and Tritium Levels Along the Romanian Lower Danube River

et al. 2010

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ABSTRACT. The Lower Danube Basin covers the Romanian-Bulgarian sub-basin downstream from Cazane Gorge and the sub-basins of the Siret and Prut rivers. To extensively survey the Romanian nuclear power plant impact on the Danube water, tritium and radiocarbon baseline values are required. Therefore, the reported study tried to establish these values based on a 2-yr sampling campaign covering 975 km of the Danube from Cazane Gorge to Tulcea. The tributaries Cerna, Jiu, Olt, and Arges were also included in this study. During the sampling campaigns, tritium concentration of different sampling locations showed values between 7 ± 2.1 and 33.5 ± 2.3 TU. Measured 14 C activity for the same locations ranged between 88.45 ± 1.46 and 112.36 ± 1.56 pMC. Lower values were recorded for tributaries: between 8.3 ± 2.1 and 12.2 ± 2.2 TU for tritium and between 67.3 ± 1.29 and 86.04 ± 1.42 pMC for 14 C. Despite the nuclear activity in the observed areas, tritium and 14 C activities presented slightly higher values for specific locations without any influence on Danube River water. INTRODUCTIONRivers are important freshwater sources, and much of the world's population has relied on rivers for its development. In recent years, many international and national hydrology research programs have focused on large river basins. In humid basins, precipitation processes are the primary signal traced by river discharge. Evidence that precipitation input signals are not static is found from long-term isotope records of European rivers. Interannual variations of these processes reflect the inherent decadal variability of precipitation processes. Comparing tritium levels in the Danube River with tritium levels in precipitation at Vienna (Rank et al. 1998) reveals that not only short-term signals but also long-term changes in the isotope ratio of precipitation are transmitted through the catchments and can be detected in river water. A comparison of measured and modeled 3 H contents in the Danube River revealed that the best fit that could be obtained (mean residence time of 3 yr) is still not satisfactory (Rank et al. 2005).The Danube River Basin is the second largest river basin in Europe, covering 801,463 km 2 (ICPDR 2005). It lies west of the Black Sea in central and southeastern Europe. Due to its geological and geographical conditions, the Danube River Basin can be divided into 3 main parts: the Upper, Middle, and Lower Danube Basin. About 65% of the Lower Danube Basin forms the natural border between Romania and Bulgaria. Two important nuclear power plants (NPP) for both countries are found in this region: Kozloduy NPP and Cernavoda NPP. Both countries consider nuclear energy to be a potential energy solution for future economic development. In fact, nuclear power generates between 10% and 45% of the electricity for the Danube riparian countries. Therefore, Romania has already built a new CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium)-type unit in Cernavoda, which was put into operation in 2007, and Bulgaria started negotiations for a new NPP in Belene...

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Applying direct liquid scintillation counting to low level tritium measurement

Cited by 44 publications

References 3 publications

Uptake of Tritiated Liquids by Individual Breakfast Cereal Flakes

Uptake of Tritiated Liquids by Individual Breakfast Cereal Flakes

Nitromethane and other quenching agents used to determine the tritium activity concentration by liquid scintillation spectroscopy

Radiocarbon and Tritium Levels Along the Romanian Lower Danube River

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