| Summary: | The aim of this work was to estimate the health and radiation hazard due to
external irradiation from terrestrial radionuclides in the Stara planina Mt.
region, which is important because of past uranium mining activities on the
mountain. Soil samples were collected inside the flotation processing
facilities, their surroundings and more distant locations, i.e. from areas
considered certainly affected, potentially affected, and unaffected by former
mining and uranium ore processing activities. The radiological and health
risk assessments were done by calculating the six main parameters, based on
the activity concentration of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in soil samples as
determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. Increased values of the risk parameters
were observed only for sites where uranium ore was processed, while the
location surrounding these compounds showed values that are usual for this
mountain or slightly above them. Calculations of the risk parameters for the
background area showed no radiation risk for the local and seasonal
population. The presence of U and Th was detected in all water samples from
creeks surrounding the facilities, but only in the water from the facility
drainage pipe did their concentration exceed the limits given for the uranium
content in drinking water. In conclusion, the results obtained in this study
fall within the range of values in similar studies conducted worldwide and
are below the values which can cause a significant radiation hazard.
[Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III43009 i br. III41005]
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