International Conference on the Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) in Industry

Measurement of the radon exhalation rate and effective radium concentration in some soil samples of Obuasi Municipality a mining town in Ghana using the Sealed Can Technique

Not scheduled

5m

IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria

Poster NORM Characterization, Measurement, Decontamination Session IV - Characterization in Industrial Facilities and in the Environment

Speaker

Dr Irene Opoku-Ntim (Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, National Nuclear Research Institute, Nuclear Application Centre)

Description

In the present study, the seasonal variation of radium and radon exhalation rates in terms mass and area was measured in four towns in the Obuasi Municipality, a mining town using the sealed can technique. The results show variation of radon exhalation rate with radium content of the soil samples. In the dry season, area exhalation rate, mass exhalation rate and radium content in the soil samples varied from 10.33 μBq.m-2.h-1-42.34 μBq.m-2.h-1, 2.51 μBqkg-1h-1-10.29 μBqkg-1h-1and 33.59 Bqkg-1 -137.68 Bqkg-1 respectively and in the rainy season the area exhalation rate, mass exhalation rate and radium content in the soil samples varied from 2.13 μBq.m-2.h-1-32.95 μBq.m-2.h-1, 0.52 μBqkg-1h-1-8.01 μBqkg-1h-1and 6.84 Bqkg-1-105 Bqkg-1. A strong positive correlation was observed between radium content and radon exhalation rate.