Neutron activation of stable isotopes in soil and groundwater from a radionuclide production facility, South Africa.
| Autor: | Marazula T; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa; iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, Faure, South Africa E-mail: MARAZULAT@cput.ac.za., Malaza NM; Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa., Conradie JL; iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, Faure, South Africa., Beukes P; iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences, Faure, South Africa. |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Zdroj: | Journal of water and health [J Water Health] 2024 Aug; Vol. 22 (8), pp. 1372-1386. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 31. |
| DOI: | 10.2166/wh.2024.056 |
| Abstrakt: | The neutron activation of stable isotopes in environmental matrices, such as soil and groundwater, is a critical aspect of assessing the impact of radionuclide production facilities on the surrounding ecosystem. The envisioned Low-Energy Radioactive Ion Beams (LERIB) facility at the iThemba LABS, South Africa is anticipated to generate significant sources of ionising radiation. The study investigated the possible repercussions of neutron irradiation stemming from the facility, focusing on the activation of stable isotopic compositions in the environment. The investigation employed a combination of experimental and analytical techniques to characterize the neutron activation products in soil and groundwater samples collected from the vicinity. Samples were collected from designated areas for background radiological measurements and were irradiated with neutrons for a period of 1 h. The induced radioactivity measured by the High Purity Germanium detector included 24 Na, 22 Na, 54 Mn, 52 Mn, and 46 Sc. The application of Darcy's law for groundwater velocity suggests that radionuclides in groundwater will migrate at an average flow velocity of 0.8 m/day. The isotopes with longer half-lives have count rates at background concentrations; therefore, environmental impacts on the site and surrounding communities might be minimal. Competing Interests: The authors declare there is no conflict. (© 2024 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).) |
| Databáze: | MEDLINE |
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