RESUMEN
As a result of firing pulverized coal in thermal power plants, enormous amounts of fly ash (FA) are produced as industrial waste. The release into the atmosphere and storage of this industrial waste remains one of the major environmental problems that threaten human health by contributing to air, water, and soil pollution. The recovery and reuse of FA in the construction industry is the only economic solution to the existing problem. In this study, the potential radiological risk caused by the usage of FA in concrete and cement production as a main component and its storage in landfill sites was evaluated for people and works by estimating radiological parameters (activity concentration and alpha index, annual effective doses, and the corresponding excess lifetime cancer risks) based on activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA. Also, the radiological risk to the workers working in the FA landfill site was evaluated using the Residual Radioactivity Onsite 7.2 code. The average activity concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides in FA samples from the Tunçbilek lignite coal-fired thermal power plant at Kütahya province of Turkey were measured as 417, 156 and 454 Bq kg-1 for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K, respectively. When using up to 35% by mass of FA in cement and concrete, the average values of the radiological parameters revealed that they were within the recommended safety limits. However, code estimations showed that a regular worker in FA storage would be exposed to a total effective dose rate greater than 3 mSv y-1.
Asunto(s)
Ceniza del Carbón , Materiales de Construcción , Ceniza del Carbón/análisis , Materiales de Construcción/análisis , Humanos , Torio/análisis , Medición de Riesgo , Turquía , Exposición Profesional/análisis , Monitoreo de Radiación , Radio (Elemento)/análisis , Radioisótopos de Potasio/análisis , Instalaciones de Eliminación de Residuos , Centrales Eléctricas , Residuos Industriales/análisis , Residuos Industriales/efectos adversosRESUMEN
The oil and gas industries are the largest producers of NORM wastes that are continuously generated during production and extraction activities. In addition, an increasing trend is observed in waste production worldwide due to the decommissioning of oil platforms. The problem is that most of these wastes are in activity concentration levels above the exemption and the clearance limits and are being accumulated in storage sites because no repositories exist in Brazil for NORM wastes generated by oil industries. There are regulations for radioactive wastes and for the licensing of repositories for managing wastes with low and intermediate levels of radiation but the current regulations apply only to packaged wastes. Therefore an initial radiological assessment was carried out with the RESRAD-OFFSITE code to show that bulk NORM wastes (not packaged wastes) could be disposed of in repositories near the surface without causing additional risk to the public above the criteria used. The results can also support decision-making by the Regulatory Authority to change the current regulations and allow for the disposal of wastes in bulk form.