Beta Radioactivity Measurement Results of Seawater at the Bulgarian Seacoast

Abstract

Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastal waters are a key component in the development of tourism and various other trade activities. They are used for sea bathing, healing, aquaculture and sustaining unique ecosystems. Monitoring and controlling the natural background radiation is of utmost importance to preserving the purity of coastal seawater. Data for the joint gamma and beta radioactivity along the Bulgarian coastline has been gathered for 42 years by the network of the Bulgarian National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology. The data over this continuous and uninterrupted timespan provides a benchmark against which to assess the joint background radiation of the coastal environment caused by naturally occurring radionuclides. Comparing novel measurements to this extensive database could show the presence or lack of pollutants caused by human activity. Our monitoring includes gathering radiological indicators of seawater in Bulgaria’s coastal regions and analyzing its dependency on World Ocean pollution and the transfer of technogenic radioisotopes through the atmosphere. As it currently stands, we consider the Bulgarian seacoast waters to be clean.