Assessments of annual effective doses for population and estimation of environmental risk in the vicinity of coal-fired power plant Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

The paper describes radioactivity monitoring and radiological risk assessment procedures for the population and the environment in three villages located around the coal-fired power plant. The dose assessments were performed after long-term radioactivity monitoring that was carried out in the production process and in the vicinity of the coal-fired power plant Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina.The estimated annual effective doses for the population living in the observed villages were in the range of 1.89–2.13 mSv. The most significant contributions were delivered from ingestion of food and water (0.55–0.63 mSv y−1); external exposure from building materials (0.44–0.62 mSv y−1) and inhalation of radon (222Rn) progeny (0.29–0.62 mSv y−1).The inhalation doses from flying radionuclide particles were not significant with values in the range of 0.0056–0.0062 mSv y−1 for inhalation of 235U, 238U, 226Ra, and 232Th. External terrestrial doses were in the range of average world values (0.070–0.094 mSv y−1).Environmental risk was estimated using the ERICA tool which did not highlight any threatened species. A conservative approach with a lower dose screening value (10 nGy h−1) indicated the risk for lichens and bryophytes as terrestrial organisms with high accumulation capacity for natural radionuclides.