It is impossible to detect
14C and
3H by direct methods such as γ-spectroscopy because they are pure b-emitters and thus they are classified as hard to measure
nuclides (HTM). In this paper the analysis results of
14C and
3H in the low level radioactive wastes (LLWs), including spent ion exchange resin, evaporated bottom and sludge are presented.
The LLWs were generated by three nuclear power plants (NPPs), in Korea all with pressurized water type reactors (PWRs). A
simultaneous separation procedure for
14C and
3H in LLWs was established by wet oxidation-acid stripping. A liquid scintillation analyzer was used for the measurement of
14C and
3H. It was found that the recovery of
14C and
3H was 82-99 and 78-103%, respectively, by wet oxidation-acid stripping with diluted standard solutions. At the lowest injection
of
14C and
3H, i.e., at 1.44 Bq for
14C and 1.22 Bq for
3H, the minimum detectable activity (MDA) of
14C and
3H was calculated as 0.88 and 0.78 Bq/g, respectively, for the minimum allowable sample weight, using wet oxidation and 16
wt% H
2SO
4 acid. By the wet oxidation-16 wt% H
2SO
4 stripping method no interfering nuclides were detected in the trapping solution of
14CO
2 and the distillate of
3H. The activity concentration range of
14C in the analyzed samples, i.e., spent ion exchange resin, evaporated bottom and sludge, was 0.17-110,000, 8.4-1380 and 0.1-10,006
Bq/g, respectively, and that of
3H in the same was from no detectable to 769, 134-14,383 and 0.7-4820 Bq/g, respectively.