Instruments and Methods for Measuring C-14 (a Review)

The main methods for measuring C-14 based on a Libby counter, a proportional gas-filled counter, liquid scintillation counting, and accelerator mass spectrometry are considered. The measurement features, advantages, and disadvantages of each presented method are described. The radiocarbon concentration in annual rings of a pine tree grown in Akademgorodok of Novosibirsk has been measured using the accelerator mass spectrometry method. The measured C-14 concentration in the samples is in the range from 95.4 +/- 0.2 to 191.5 +/- 2.2 pMC.