Assessment of natural radioactivity in the soils of Rössing Uranium Mine and its satellite town in western Namibia, southern Africa
✍ Scribed by J.A. Oyedele; S. Shimboyo; S. Sitoka; F. Gaoseb
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 2010
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 231 KB
- Volume
- 619
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0168-9002
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
The concentrations of the radionuclides 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K in soil samples taken from the R össing Uranium Mine and the neighbouring town of Arandis in western Namibia have been determined by means of an HPGe detector with the aim of providing a baseline data on radiation level in the area. In the samples, the concentrations vary from 45.9 7 3.0 to 1752.1 7 17.5 Bq kg À 1 for 238 U, 70.4 7 4.8 to 1865.5 7 56.0 Bq kg À 1 for 232 Th and 376.57 18.1 to 1300.7 7 50.7 Bq kg À 1 for 40 K. These concentrations were used to calculate the absorbed dose rates and the annual effective dose rates in the mine and town. The annual effective dose rates vary from 0.127 0.01 to 1.60 7 0.04 mSv y À 1 with a mean of 0.30 7 0.21 mSv y À 1 which indicates that the area has a normal background radiation.