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Radiation monitoring of water bodies on the territory of former uranium mines
Радиационный мониторинг водных объектов на территории бывших урановых рудников
- Centre for the Development of Professional Qualification of Medical Workers, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Department of Sanitary and Epidemiological Welfare and Public Health of Tashkent Region, Nurafshon, Uzbekistan
Highlights
- Former Yangiabad uranium mine, worked from the late 1950s until 1986: about 50 km², about 2.6 million m³ of radioactive waste at 7 sites.
- Gamma dose rate 10 cm above the water: 0.55–1.22 µSv/h (means at 7 sites).
- Mine water: gross alpha 5.17–6.02 Bq/L, gross beta 2.05–2.29 Bq/L (norms 0.2 and 2.0 Bq/L).
- Surface water: gross alpha 0.15–0.18 Bq/L, gross beta 0.94–1.22 Bq/L.
- Radium-226 up to 0.51–0.79 Bq/L, thorium-232 up to 0.53–0.69 Bq/L, potassium-40 up to 21.73–47.12 Bq/L; sum of ratios to intervention levels 1.05–1.31 (norm 1).
Keywords
- gross alpha activity
- gross beta activity
- equivalent dose rate
- mining and processing
- natural radionuclides
- radiation monitoring
- specific activity
- Yangiabad
Summary
The settlement of Yangiabad lies at about 1,300 m in the mountains of Tashkent region, where the Kattasay and Dukentsay rivers meet. Its uranium mine worked from the late 1950s until 1986. The former mine covers about 50 km², and about 2.6 million m³ of radioactive waste lies at seven sites close to the rivers, which mudflows, landslides and earthquakes could disturb. The water bodies there have been monitored since 2023.
At seven sites the authors measured the gamma dose rate 10 cm above the water and sampled mine water (sites 1, 3 and 5) and surface water (sites 2, 4, 6 and 7). Gross alpha and beta activity were measured on the dry residue, and caesium-137, strontium-90, potassium-40, radium-226 and thorium-232 by beta-gamma spectrometry of samples evaporated from 10 litres. The results were compared with the norms of SanPiN No. 0193-06 (NRB-2006 and OSPORB-2006): 0.2 Bq/L gross alpha and 2.0 Bq/L gross beta, intervention levels of 11 Bq/L for caesium-137, 5.0 for strontium-90, 1.0 for radium-226 and 1.2 for thorium-232, and a sum of each activity divided by its intervention level of no more than 1.
The mean dose rate above the water was 0.55–1.22 µSv/h, above the background of most of Uzbekistan. Mine water had a gross alpha activity of 5.17–6.02 Bq/L and a gross beta activity of 2.05–2.29 Bq/L, above both norms; surface water stayed within them, at 0.15–0.18 and 0.94–1.22 Bq/L. No single radionuclide reached its intervention level (radium-226 up to 0.51–0.79 Bq/L, thorium-232 up to 0.53–0.69 Bq/L), but the summed ratio given for all seven sites, 1.05–1.31, is above 1; caesium-137 and strontium-90 are given as no more than 0.17 and 0.02 Bq/L. The authors judge the radiation situation at the former mines unsatisfactory and call for protective measures.
How to cite
D. A. Zaredinov, M. V. Li and F. F. Abdusattarov (2025). Radiation monitoring of water bodies on the territory of former uranium mines. Journal of Humanities & Natural Sciences, 2025, No. 18 (01), pp. 150–153. https://journals.tnmu.uz/index.php/gtfj/article/view/1342