An assessment of the external radiological impact in areas of Greece with elevated natural radioactivity

Abstract In the present study, the radiological impact assessment in three selected areas of elevated natural radioactivity in Greece is attempted, based on measurements, theoretical relations, and simple model application. These areas are Milos e an island of volcanic origin in Cyclades Archipelago, Ikaria e an island in the Eastern Aegean Sea and Loutraki e a coastal area in mainland Greece. These areas are characterized by their geothermal springs and vents, which emit fluids into the littoral and sublittoral zones. The results include: (a) the exposure dose rates assessed by a car-borne scintillation spectrometry system; (b) laboratory measurements of the activity concentrations of the gamma-emitters of 238 U and 232 Th series and 40 K in soil, spring water, seawater and sediments by gamma-spectrometry; (c) estimations of the effective dose rate equivalents and health risk assessment for humans and external dose rates for natural aquatic populations in relation to organism habitat; and (d) a radiological evaluation for the environmental quality, in terms of the discrete zones of impact of ionizing radiation

Evaluation of external doses from exposure to gamma sources in the soil using the MCNP code

Monte Carlo Neutron, Photon transport code (MCNP) was utilized to calculate the external dose from exposure to gamma emitting radionuclides on the ground. The results of the simulation were compared with the experimental data and the results of calculations performed using other analytical methods of estimating external doses from the ground and was found to be in a very good agreement.</jats:p

Natural Radioisotopes Determination in Groundwater and Tap Water using Gamma Spectrometry

Samples of underground drinking water -tap water, water from drilled wells and springs- have been collected from selected sites in Ikaria island. Concentration levels of 226Ra, 228Ra and 222Rn have been analysed by gamma spectrometry. The effective dose equivalents from ingestion of water are in the range 0.1-114μSv.y-1 for 222Rn and 25-175 μSν-1 for 226Ra. The respective range from inhalation of 2 2 2Kn released from water is 0.36-85 μSν.y-1.</jats:p

Environmental study of natural radioactivity regime of the Ikaria island and the radiological impact

This is a preliminary study on the natural radioactivity of the spas in the Icaria island and the consequent impact to the public health. In order to carry out this research : a) Car-borne radiometry has been applied in the areas around the spas as well as in some reference areas in the island b) The activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides of the 238U-226Ra and 232Th decay series, as well as 40K, in spa water, soil, sediment, surface sea water and marine flora samples in the areas of the spas were measured, from the results derived one notes that elevated concentrations of the environmental abiotic materials are presented, which are reflected to the concentrations observed in marine flora. Consequently, higher population doses in comparison with other Greek regions are resulted.</jats:p