Radiocarbon concentration in tree-ring samples collected in the south-west Slovakia (1974-2013)

Radiocarbon measurements of tree-ring samples collected in Vysoká pri Morave were compared with tree-ring data of the Žlkovce monitoring station situated 5km south-east from the Jaslovské Bohunice Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). Radiocarbon concentrations in Vysoká pri Morave and in Žlkovce tree rings were decreasing exponentially with decay constants of 14.48±1.23 y and 17.96±1.97 y, respectively, in agreement with similar results obtained at other radiocarbon stations. The Suess effect, represented by a dilution in ¹⁴C levels by fossil fuel CO₂ emissions, was observed in both tree-ring data sets. The Vysoká pri Morave ¹⁴C data were during 1974-1995 systematically lower by about 50‰ than the Schauinsland (Germany) clean air reference values due to a regional fossil-fuel impact. However, after 1996 the Vysoká pri Morave ¹⁴C data were closer to the Schauinsland data due to lower CO₂ emissions as a result of closing some of the heavy industry technologies in the region.