Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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The presence of carcinogenic radon in the Padma River water, adjacent to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

  • M.M. Mahfuz Siraz (Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre) ;
  • M.S. Alam (Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Dhaka) ;
  • Jubair A.M. (Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Dhaka) ;
  • S.C. Das (Institute of Nuclear Minerals, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission) ;
  • J. Ferdous (Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre) ;
  • Z. Hossain (Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre) ;
  • S. Das (Atomic Energy Centre) ;
  • Mayeen Uddin Khandaker (Department of General Educational Development, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Daffodil International University) ;
  • D.A. Bradley (Centre for Applied Physics and Radiation Technologies, School of Engineering and Technology, Sunway University) ;
  • Shinji Tokonami (Institute of Radiation Emergency Medicine, Hirosaki University) ;
  • S. Yeasmin (Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre)
  • Received : 2022.07.24
  • Accepted : 2023.04.25
  • Published : 2023.08.25
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Abstract

Radon is a naturally occurring carcinogenic agent, poses a serious health hazard when inhaled or ingested in significant amounts. The water of the Padma river will be used as a tertiary coolant for the soon-to-be-commissioned 'Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant'. Hence, it is important to assess the radiological status of the river prior to the commission of this power plant. Therefore, for the first time, 25 samples of water were collected from various locations of the Padma River and analyzed for radon concentration using the RAD H2O (DURRIDGE) radon monitoring device. The radon concentrations were found in the range from 0.077 ± 0.036 to 0.494 ± 0.211 Bq/L with a mean of 0.250 ± 0.093 Bq/L. All the concentrations were found to be below the recommended limits of WHO (100 Bq/L) and USEPA (11.1 Bq/L). The mean annual effective dose due to the radon exposure via inhalation and ingestion pathways were 0.638 µSv/y and 0.629 µSv/y, respectively, which were all well below the annual effective dose recommended by WHO (0.1 mSv/y). Since Bangladesh lacks a national safety limit of radon in water, this pioneering study provides baseline data on radon levels for the environment around Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The authors like to thank Albert Joydhar, Senior Scientific Assistant, Health Physics Division, Atomic Energy Centre Dhaka for helping in collection of water sample.

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