Abstract
The highly mineralised formation waters in the coal mines of Poland’s Upper Silesian Coal Basin contain natural radioactive nuclides, mostly radium. The 226Ra concentration in the groundwater that flows into the underground mine workings reaches 390 Bq/L, and is sometimes exceeded by the 228Ra concentration. The radium-bearing water sometimes also contain barium ions, which enables coprecipitation of barium-radium sulphate. Another type of radium-bearing water contains sulphate ions instead of barium; in this case, radium is transported to settling ponds and downstream. We have assessed the daily activity of radium in waters flowing into the underground mines and being discharged to the environment. Based on 1995 data, we estimate that the total activity of radium isotopes flowing into the mines was about 1300 MBq/day, while the radium activity in the discharge waters was about 700 MBq/day. A similar assessment performed with 2016 data indicated that the total activity in inflows was roughly 1150 MBq/day, while that discharged to surface waters was about 450 MBq/day.
Highlights
One of the most serious problems faced by the collieries in Upper Silesia, Poland, are the highly saline waters in the carboniferous strata (Różkowski 1995; Różkowski and Wilk 1982)
The main goal of our investigations was to estimate the changes of radium activity in inflows into the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) collieries as well as in discharges from these mines
The radium activity balance in the inflows is a sum of products, resulting from multiplication of daily water volumes and radium isotopes concentrations in every investigated inflow
Summary
One of the most serious problems faced by the collieries in Upper Silesia, Poland, are the highly saline waters in the carboniferous strata (Różkowski 1995; Różkowski and Wilk 1982). These formation waters often contain elevated concentrations of natural radionuclides, which are mainly radium isotopes. Several publications have studied elevated 226Ra concentrations in water, there is little information about radium isotopes from the thorium series (228Ra and 224Ra), as they are more difficult to measure (Eriksen et al 2009; Dickson 1990; Gans et al 1981)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
