Natural radioactivity in lignite samples from open pit mines "Kolubara", Serbia--risk assessment

M Ðurašević; A Kandić; P Stefanović; I Vukanac; B Sešlak; Z Milošević; T Marković

doi:10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.096

Natural radioactivity in lignite samples from open pit mines "Kolubara", Serbia--risk assessment

Appl Radiat Isot. 2014 May:87:73-6. doi: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.096. Epub 2013 Dec 1.

Authors

M Ðurašević¹, A Kandić², P Stefanović³, I Vukanac², B Sešlak², Z Milošević², T Marković⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Nuclear Sciences "Vinča", Laboratory for Nuclear and Plasma Physics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: mirad@vinca.rs.
² Institute of Nuclear Sciences "Vinča", Laboratory for Nuclear and Plasma Physics, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
³ Institute of Nuclear Sciences "Vinča", Laboratory of Thermal Engineering and Energy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
⁴ Military Technical Institute, Laboratory for Chemical and Nuclear Protection, Belgrade, Serbia.

PMID: 24360863
DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2013.11.096

Abstract

Coal as fossil fuel mainly contains naturally occurring radionuclides from the uranium and thorium series and (40)K. Use of coal, primarily in industry, as a result has dispersion of radioactive material from coal in and through air and water. The aim of this study was to determine the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides in coal samples from open pit mines "Kolubara" and to evaluate its effect on population health. The results showed that all measured and calculated values were below the limits recommended in international legislation.

Keywords: Coal; HPGe detector; Natural radioactivity; Radiation hazards.