Speaker
Eshetu Tilahun Zege
(Ethiopia Radiation Protection Authority)
Description
Tantalum mining is a big source of radioactive waste in Ethiopia with U-238, Th-232 and K-40 average concentration in the solid waste of 110, 15 and 0.6 kBq/kg respectively. It is clear that nations cannot reduce pollution from waste by reducing the nation’s growth. This, economic growth should be developed in a sustainable way. The generation of radioactive waste due to tantalum mining in the country need to be regulated and managed in an efficient manner in order to comply with the health, environmental and safety regulations.
The regulations are enforced in order to avoid hazardous radiation exposures to workers in the industry, public in general and protect the environment we live in. The regulatory body emplace an extensive radiological monitoring programme at the Kenticha mines sites and tailings dam to measure the radiation exposure of people living close to the mine with measuring radionuclides dispersed by the surface water, groundwater and atmospheric pathways in collecting water sample tests from effluent, soil and cereals from the environment and converts these measurement into radiation exposure estimates and the annual radiation dose estimates have been lower than the public dose limit, 1 mSv per annum.
| Country or International Organization | Ethiopia |
|---|
Primary author
Eshetu Tilahun Zege
(Ethiopia Radiation Protection Authority)
