Environmental impact of radioactivity in waste from the coal and aluminium industries in western Balkan countries
This paper deals with industrial tailings resulting from the use of radioactive coal and bauxite for assessing the impact on the population and the environment in the western Balkan countries (WBC). It considers the direct hazard resulting from the wastes for their immediate neighbourhood and the radionuclide dispersal in the environment through surface and groundwater. The selected test sites have been investigated by different methods assessing the presence and type of radionuclides in the primary and waste products, analyzing and identifying the pathways for dispersion of radionuclides in the waste surroundings, and defining the impact of the waste on the ecosystem. The process of leachability and fractionation of the different radionuclides has been studied, too. The transport of radionuclides in groundwater has been studied by 3D groundwater flow and solute transport modelling. The following parameters have been assessed (1) gamma dose-rate levels (2) radon in soil gas (3) radon exhalation (4) indoor and outdoor radon (5) radionuclide activity in soil and in waste material (6) radionuclides in surface water and groundwater (7) radionuclides in biota. Several case studies highlight the transfer of the radionuclides to plants and animal consumption products. The radionuclide concentrations in the waste and in the surroundings range over three orders of magnitude. Radionuclide concentrations in groundwater surrounding the waste are low and have a lower variability than in the wastes. Radon concentrations on the tailings are increased with respect to the surroundings. The transfer factors in the soil–plant–animal system indicate low bioavailability of investigated radionuclides. A preliminary dose assessment shows that the highest contribution to dose is from external and radon exposure. On the basis of the results obtained by using transport model simulation and considering the high Kd values and low concentration of radium, radionuclide transport in groundwater is slow and limited to a restricted area around the tailings sites.