Abstract
Since the beginning of explorative uranium mining at the Žirovski Vrh uranium ore deposit area in 1968, a radioactivity monitoring programme has been carried out. The extent of the programme has varied according to the pre-operational, operational, and, finally, post-operational conditions. In this paper, our ten year results on the dissolved radium concentrations in surface waters, which have been contaminated and potentially affected by the uranium mining and milling activities, are reported. With the exception of waters drained from the hydrometallurgic waste site with radium content ranging from 2 to 9 kBqm−3, radium content is far below the drinking water limit of 1000 Bqm−3; in the Brebovŝčica stream, which collects all the waters affected by the mine, the present radium concentration does not exceed 10 Bqm−3.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. Križman, P. Stegnar, J. Stefan Institute Report US-DP-6750, 1993.
I. Kobal, J. Kristan, M. Škofljanec, S. Jerančič, M. Ančik, J. Radioanal. Chem., 44 (1978) 307.
I. Kobal, A. R. Williams, The Behaviour of Radium in Waterways and Aquifers, Coordinated Research Project, IAEA-TECDOC-301 (1984), 25.
I. Kobal, M. Shanin, J. Kristan, M. Senegačnik, Health Phys., 27 (1974) 381.
J. Kristan, I. Kobal, Health Phys., 24 (1972) 103.
D. R. Rushing, W. J. Garcia, D. A. Clark, Proc. Intern. Symp. Radiological Health and Safety in Mining and Milling of Nuclear Materials, Vol. 2, 1964, p. 187.
Gazette of Slovenia, No. 8 (1987) 226.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vaupotič, J., Kobal, I. Releases of radium from an abandoned uranium mine site: Žirovski Vrh uranium mine, Slovenia. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 241, 107–111 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347296
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02347296