Affiliation:
1. Nuclear Engineering Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Abstract
Coal- and lignite-fired power plants produce significant amounts of fly ash,
which in many cases contains high concentrations of naturally occurring
radionuclides such as 238U. This is of importance from the
radio-environmental point of view since a small portion of the fly ash
escapes from the power plant filtering system and disperses in the
surrounding atmosphere. In addition, coal- and lignite-fired plants related
activities such as fuel mining and ash deposition contribute to the suspended
matter in the air with particles containing naturally occurring
radionuclides. In this study, rainwater samples were collected in the
Megalopolis lignite field basin of the Arcadia prefecture in Greece, where
lignite-fired power plants are in operation and related activities are fully
developed. The samples were preconcentrated and analyzed with alpha
spectrometry and kinetic phosphorescence analysis in order to determine the
levels of uranium isotope concentrations in precipitation in the Megalopolis
basin. A control rainwater sample was also collected in the Athens area to
account for reference purposes. Concentrations determined via the two
techniques were found to be in statistical agreement. The concentration of
238U in the samples collected at the Megalopolis basin varies from 2.2 ? 0.6
to 90 ? 14 mBq/L, and is 5-40 times higher than the concentration of 238U in
the sample collected in Athens. This could be attributed to the operation of
the lignite-fired power plants, the fossil fuel mines, and the ash
depositories.
Publisher
National Library of Serbia
Subject
Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality,Nuclear Energy and Engineering
Cited by
7 articles.
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