Abstract
Use of the coal in order to generate electricity increases the exposure of people to radiation. In this paper, the activity concentrations of nuclides 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in samples of coal and bottom ash from the Yatagan Coal–Fired thermal power plant determined using gamma ray spectrometer with a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. The mean activity concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th, and 40 K in the coal were found to be 37.2±2.8 Bqkg -1 , 51.8±3.4 Bqkg -1 and 166.7±11.1 Bqkg -1 , respectively. Whereas in the bottom ashes, the concentrations of the corresponding radionuclides were found to be 62.2±5.6 Bqkg -1 , 87.4±5.9 Bqkg -1 and 221.0 ±12.5 Bqkg -1 , respectively. The findings show that bottom ashes show higher activity concentrations of related radionuclide to coal samples. The absorbed gamma dose rate in outdoor air DR OUT and annual effective dose rate (AED) from coal were calculated to define radiological risk. The average findings of annual effective doses were detected as 68.6±5.1 μSvy -1 and 110.3±11.2 μSvy -1 , respectively.
Highlights
Energy is one of the most important inputs to the economic and social development of a country
Yatağan Thermal Power Plant has 3x210 MW power is located in Muğla, which has a significant portion of Turkey's lignite reserves [7]
Radioactivity measurements were made in the samples of bottom ash generated by burning of coal and coal used as fuel in Yatağan Thermal Power Plant
Summary
Energy is one of the most important inputs to the economic and social development of a country. Coal is used as fuel in coal operated power plants to generated electricity in Turkey. Coal and lignite fueled thermal power plants in Turkey reported total electricity generation of 90.335 GWh per year. About 0.5-2 % of the total ash resulting from the fly ash combustion is released to the atmosphere and this event creates a potential risk for the very close environment of the coal fired power plant [5]. The radioactive pollution given to the atmosphere per year is 4000 MBq for 40K, 1500 MBq for 238U through 226Ra, 5000 MBq for 210Pb and 210Po and 1500 MBq for the radionuclides of 232Th decay series, from 232Th to 224Ra. As well as there are the ash mountains that generate atmospheres 222Rn around each coal –fired power plant. The activities of natural radioactive elements were determined in the samples of coal and bottom ash
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