No Virginia, NUCLEAR REACTORS DO RELEASE carbon into the atmosphere

Gordon Edwards, 23 Mar 25

The two most abundant releases of radioactive pollutants from nuclear power plants are (1) radioactive hydrogen (“tritium”) and (2) radioactive carbon (carbon-14).Tritium hangs around for a couple of centuries, while carbon-14 remains in the local environemnt for many millennia – longer than the span of recorded human history.Both of these radioactive materials are “activation products” for the most part, created outside the nuclear fuel and therefore much easier to escape into the environment. Even without any fuel damage, a lot of tritium and a lot of carbon-14 is created by stray neutrons striking non-radioactive atoms outside the fuel assemblies.

Below I mention one way in which carbon-14 is created — when a neutron strikes a nitrogen atom. Another mechanism which is important in CANDU reactors is the collision of a stray neutron with an oxygen-13 atom (which is much more abundant in heavy water compared with ordinary light water).

Technically, radioactive carbon-14 is produced from non-radioactive nitrogen-14, making up about 78 percent of the air we breathe. When a neutron hits a nitrogen atom, a proton is given off and the result in radioactive carbon-14. It is the only radioactive isotope of carbon, just as hydrogen-3 (tritium) is the only radioactive isotope of hydrogen.Carbon and hydrogen are the basic building blocks of all organic molecules.

The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years. The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years,

Very little if any radioactive carbon-14 comes from non-radioactive carbon directly.

March 24, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change

2 Comments »

How does Carbon 14 fit into the larger picture of carbon pollution as it affects climate change, and if it is a significant pollutant in this regard, how does it compare to other sources of CO2 pollution?

Comment by skygvt | March 24, 2025 | Reply
- to skygvt
  Both tritium and carbon 14 radioactive materials are “activation products” for the most part, created outside the nuclear fuel and therefore much easier to escape into the environment. Even without any fuel damage, a lot of tritium and a lot of carbon-14 is created by stray neutrons striking non-radioactive atoms outside the fuel assemblies.
  Compared to CO2, carbon 14 is a minor source of global-heating pollution. The entire nuclear fuel cycle from uranium mining to waste burial releases much CO2. So nuclear reactors themselves DO release some carbon emissions, contrary to the claim that they are “carbon-free”. The claim that nuclear power is “clean” is patently false.
  
  Comment by Christina Macpherson | March 24, 2025 | Reply