Radiation hazards of sudanese gold industry

الملخص EN

Calculations of annual effective dose have been made from the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in ore, solid waste (heap) and soil samples collected from Adassedakh and Hadal Auatib gold mines in Ariab, eastern Sudan.

Measurements were performed using a high-resolution gamma- spectrometry.

Independent of location, the data show that the concentration of 226Ra and 232Th increases in order: soil> heap > ore.

This order basically confirms that the activity levels in heap are low relative to natural background (i.e.

soil samples), and thus the expected contribution in enhancement of natural background is correspondingly low.

The concept of concentration ratio (CR) has been applied to quantify the degree of accumulation of radionuclides in the solid waste (heap).

The calculated CR values revealed that 232Th is most accumulated while there is no accumulation of 40K.The absorbed dose rates in air as estimated using DRCF is 27.1 nGy / h (Adassedakh), and 11.81 nGy / h (Hadal Auatib).

The corresponding annual effective dose is 0.033 for Adassedakh and 0.014 mSv / y for Hadal Auatib.