Experimental studies on the deposition to crops of radioactive gases released from gas-cooled reactors - III. Carbon-14 dioxide

Experimental studies were performed under controlled environmental conditio ns to determine the deposition and subsequent allocation of carbon-14, foll owing a short-term fumigation of major British crops with (CO2)-C-14. The d eposition velocities varied between 0.075 and 1.32 cm(3) g(-1) s(-1) and 0. 0008 and 0.157 cm s(-1) on weight and area bases, respectively. The primary sites of deposition were leaves, although other organs, e.g. ears and pods , were increasingly important as the crops developed. Activity was allocate d post-deposition to those crop components actively growing at the time of deposition. The allocation was generally completed 24 h after fumigation, t he exceptions to this being those crops where reproductive organs developed after the fumigation. A single exponential function was the best fit for t he loss of activity from the crops. The data are discussed in the context o f modelling carbon-14 contamination of crops following radioactive discharg es. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved,