Study on Radioactivity Content in Soil Around Uranium Mineralised Region

Abstract

A study on natural radioactivity in soil around Tummalapalle uranium mineralised region was carried out. The aim of this study was to find the activity of primordial radionuclides ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰ K over the span of 5 years from 2018 to 2022 to understand the trend of activity of radionuclides in soil and impact of mining activities on the surrounding soil. The overall average activity of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰ K over the years has been found to be 25 Bq/kg, 40 Bq/kg and 478 Bq/kg, respectively. The ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th activities have been found to be less, whereas ⁴⁰ K activity has been found to be slightly higher than the worldwide average of 32, 45 and 412 Bq/kg. The activity of radionuclides over the years does not show any increasing trend, which indicates that there is no impact of mining activities in the region on the soil in surrounding environment. Radium equivalent for soils was found to be 117.10 Bqkg⁻¹, which is lower than the recommended limit of 370 Bqkg⁻¹, and the annual effective external dose was found to be 345.56 µSvy⁻¹, which is less than the worldwide average of 460 µSvy⁻¹. External hazard index was found to be 0.35 Bq kg⁻¹, which indicates insignificant radiation hazard from natural radionuclides in soil.