Assessment of radiation exposure around abandoned uranium mining area of Stara planina Mt., Serbia

Abstract

The aim of this work was to estimate the health and radiation hazard due to external irradiation from terrestrial radionuclides in the Stara planina Mt. region, which is important because of past uranium mining activities on the mountain. Soil samples were collected inside the flotation processing facilities, their surroundings and more distant locations, i.e. from areas considered certainly affected, potentially affected, and unaffected by former mining and uranium ore processing activities. The radiological and health risk assessments were done by calculating the six main parameters, based on the activity concentration of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in soil samples as determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. Increased values of the risk parameters were observed only for sites where uranium ore was processed, while the location surrounding these compounds showed values that are usual for this mountain or slightly above them. Calculations of the risk parameters for the background area showed no radiation risk for the local and seasonal population. The presence of U and Th was detected in all water samples from creeks surrounding the facilities, but only in the water from the facility drainage pipe did their concentration exceed the limits given for the uranium content in drinking water. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study fall within the range of values in similar studies conducted worldwide and are below the values which can cause a significant radiation hazard. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III43009 i br. III41005]

Keywords

• radiological assessment
• uranium
• thorium
• soil
• water