Nuclear Power Plants Pre-operational Radiological Monitoring Mapping for the Coastal Boarders and Islands of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

In the light of the peaceful nuclear power plants (NPPs) project of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the operation license has been issued and the first unit is being in commercial operation. This work deals mainly with radiological surveillance of the coastal boarder and some Islands of UAE as a baseline reference natural and artificial radioactivity mapping. Ultra-sensitive hyper pure Germanium (HpGe) detector was used to carry out the non-destructive gamma measurements. The area of study was divided into; Abu Dhabi region, northern emirates and islands. About 85 soils, shore sediment and water samples were collected based on the scientific sampling mechanism. The samples were analyzed for X-ray diffraction mineralogy (XRD). The radioactivity in Bq/kg of the natural 238U(226Ra), 232Th and 40K were calculated for all the collected samples. The artificial 137Cs was also observed in very low activity. The hazard indices were also calculated and found to be less than the recommended international and regional limits. The correlations between the measured radioisotopes were also depicted. The results were compared, presented and given in 3D histograms.

Natural and artificial radioactivity of soil of the Arctic part of Western Siberia

<p>To assess the levels of radioactivity, the soils of the Arctic region of Western Siberia were studied. The content of Cs-137 in the soils of the studied region ranges from 2 to 9 Bq/kg, with an average value of 4 Bq/kg.</p><p>The average contents of natural radionuclides (U, Th and K-40) in soils are determined by the radioactivity of the parent rocks. The radioanalytical results showed that the average Th content is 2.8 (0.3-6.7) ppm; U – 2.0 (0.5-6.6) ppm, K-40 – 233 (16-473) Bq/kg in the soils.</p><p>This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant (project No 18-77-10039). Analytical studies were carried out at the Center for multi-elemental and isotope research SB RAS.</p>

RADIOACTIVITY ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES AND 137CS IN COMMONLY CONSUMED FOODS

The goal of this research is to determine the levels of natural and artificial radioactivity in 13 different samples of commonly consumed foods from Serbian markets. A gamma spectrometry was used to measure the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs. The annual whole-body doses from 137Cs and natural radionuclides, due to the consumption of tea for an adult, are in the range of 2.3– 8.5 nSv for 137Cs, 14.1 – 21.7 nSv for 232Ra, 18.4 – 73.6 nSv for 232Th and for 40K 10.4 – 22.9 nSv. These doses are not harmful to the general public’s health.

Assessment of Radioactivity and Radiological Hazard of Different Food Items Collected from Local Market in Bangladesh

Sixteen samples in three categories vegetables, cereals (rice, wheat, maize, pulse) and powdered milk were collected from local markets (Dhaka city) in Bangladesh and analyzed by using High Purity Germanium (HPGe) Detector for the assessment of natural and artificial radioactivity. In vegetables (potato, raw banana, giant taro, red amaranth), the average activity concentrations of 232Th, 226Ra, and 40K were found to be 37.82±11.57, 54.93±9.98 and 617.43±65.69 Bqkg-1 respectively, for cereals (rice, wheat, maize, pulse) 24.01±3.67, 31.46±4.00 and 474.83±27.68 Bqkg-1 respectively and for milk samples 15.01±3.65, 26.73±6.77 and 494.21±38.71 Bqkg-1 respectively. The average values of outdoor annual effective dose were found to be 92.18, 61.19 and 52.37μSvy-1 in vegetables, cereals and milk samples respectively. No artificial radionuclide was found in any of these samples. The average value of radium equivalent activity in all samples was 113.89 Bqkg-1 which was less than maximum permissible value 370 Bqkg-1. The values of external hazard indices for vegetables, cereals and milk samples varied from 0.31 to 0.66, 0.17 to 0.40 and 0.11 to 0.36 respectively which is less than unity in all samples that indicate the non-hazardous nature of the samples. The average values of annual effective ingestion dose rate from foods (for adult) were 274.33 μSvy-1, 533.60μSvy-1, and 132.73μSvy-1for 232Th, 226Ra and 40K respectively. These data would be useful to establish a baseline for natural radioactivity concentrations in food items consumed in Bangladesh. Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 43, No. 2, 141-148, 2019

Cryoconite: an efficient accumulator of radioactive fallout in glacial environments

Cryoconite is rich in natural and artificial radioactivity, but a discussion about its ability to accumulate radionuclides is lacking. A characterization of cryoconite from two Alpine glaciers is presented here. Results confirm that cryoconite is significantly more radioactive than the matrices usually adopted for the environmental monitoring of radioactivity, such as lichens and mosses, with activity concentrations exceeding 10 000 Bq kg−1 for single radionuclides. This makes cryoconite an ideal matrix to investigate the deposition and occurrence of radioactive species in glacial environments. In addition, cryoconite can be used to track environmental radioactivity sources. We have exploited atomic and activity ratios of artificial radionuclides to identify the sources of the anthropogenic radioactivity accumulated in our samples. The signature of cryoconite from different Alpine glaciers is compatible with the stratospheric global fallout and Chernobyl accident products. Differences are found when considering other geographic contexts. A comparison with data from literature shows that Alpine cryoconite is strongly influenced by the Chernobyl fallout, while cryoconite from other regions is more impacted by events such as nuclear test explosions and satellite reentries. To explain the accumulation of radionuclides in cryoconite, the glacial environment as a whole must be considered, and particularly the interaction between ice, meltwater, cryoconite and atmospheric deposition. We hypothesize that the impurities originally preserved into ice and mobilized with meltwater during summer, including radionuclides, are accumulated in cryoconite because of their affinity for organic matter, which is abundant in cryoconite. In relation to these processes, we have explored the possibility of exploiting radioactivity to date cryoconite.