(super 14) C sources and distribution in the vicinity of La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant; Part I, Terrestrial environment.

Abstract

COGEMA-La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant in the Cotentin Peninsula (northwest France) releases in the atmosphere about 19 TBq.yr (super -1) of radiocarbon. Three experiments in a terrestrial environment with sampling of a bio-indicator like furze were performed in 1997, 1998, and 1999, and additional air samples in the chimney plume were measured. Results presented here establish the (super 14) C distribution in the La Hague environment and suggest that a part of the (super 14) C content in the vegetation near the coast results from a (super 14) CO (sub 2) degassing of seawater supplied with the liquid waste from the nuclear plant.