Abstract: In this paper, the source of ¹⁴C in the reactor and the coolant of pressurized water reactor (PWR) nuclear power plant (NPP) was analyzed, and the release level of ¹⁴C in the effluent for PWR-NPPs in the USA and Europe was investigated. The envelope ability of the current limits of ¹⁴C annual release stipulated by national standard GB 6249—2011 were analyzed, based on the long-years of realistically reported release data. Meanwhile, the possible increasing of ¹⁴C release for AP1000 and EPR NPP units compared the traditional PWR was investigated, which should be paid attention for the discharge limit setting especially for multi-units NPP sites. Besides, the ¹⁴C application in the various fields, such as the biology and medicine science were briefly introduced. It was shown the recovery of ¹⁴C in the gaseous effluent of PWR-NPP is essential and significant to produce economic benefits, as well as the social benefits basically, which could reduce public dose dramatically for the local individuals.

Key words: pressurized water reactor, ¹⁴C, effluent, release limits