Integrated Assessment of Soil, Airborne and External Gamma Radiation Indicators in Uranium Industry-Affected Areas of Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The soil radionuclide inventory, most often monitored in uranium industry areas, may not reflect the inhalation hazard. We tested this in Uchkuduk, Uzbekistan, at ten co-located points in each of a uranium sorption recovery section, a mill tailings site and the residential area, measuring 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in soil, the radium equivalent activity ( Ra eq ), the ambient dose equivalent rate H *(10), the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration ( EERC ) and the long-lived alpha activity ( LLAA ) of aerosols. The tailings site had the highest 226 Ra, Ra eq and H *(10) (up to 5.85 µSv h − 1 ), but outdoor EERC and LLAA were no higher than at the sorption section, where indoor EERC reached 46 Bq m − 3 . Outdoor EERC followed 226 Ra at the sorption section and in the residential area, whereas at the wind-exposed tailings site only LLAA did (ρ = 0.89–0.92). Airborne indicators should therefore be measured directly rather than inferred from soil and gamma surveys.
Source: Research Square
Language: English
Subfield: Radiation
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225637549