Assessment of Natural Uranium in the Ground Water around Jaduguda Uranium Mining Complex, India

N. K. Sethy, R. M. Tripathi, V. N. Jha, S. K. Sahoo, A. K. Shukla, V. D. Puranik

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DOI: 10.4236/jep.2011.27115                

Abstract

Ground water ecosystem surrounding the uranium processing facility at Jaduguda, India has been studied for natural uranium distribution. Annual intake of uranium through drinking water for members of public residing around the uranium complex is found to be in the range of 41.8 Bquy^–1 - 44.4 Bquy^–1. The intake and ingestion dose is appreciably low (<2 Sv.y^–1) which is far below the WHO recommended level of 100 uSv.y^–1. The excess life time radiological risk due to uranium natural in drinking water is insignificant and found to be of the order of 10^–6. Even the highest concentration of uranium was found to be 28 ug.l^–1 is away (at 1.5 to 5 km distance) from mining industry and well below the acceptable limit. The ground water in the area around the uranium facility is not affected by the mining activity. The ground water in three zones is safe and reflects the natural distribution of uranium.

Keywords

Natural Uranium, Ingestion Dose, Radiological Risk

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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