1. Monitoring the radon flux from gold-mine dumps by γ-ray mapping
- Author
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R.J. de Meijer, R. T. Newman, Dirk I. L. de Villiers, P.P. Maleka, T.G.K. Motlhabane, R. Lindsay, and KVI - Center for Advanced Radiation Technology
- Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Soil test ,Radiochemistry ,mine dumps ,chemistry.chemical_element ,Soil science ,Radon ,gamma-spectroscopy ,Secular equilibrium ,Tailings ,radon flux ,chemistry ,Health hazard ,radioactivity ,Environmental science ,Instrumentation ,Radon flux - Abstract
The exhalation of radon from the large mine dumps at the gold mines in South Africa is a potential health hazard. Determination of radon fluxes from these dumpsites is problematic due to the scatter in the data in time and place and the cost involved in getting a representative sample. gamma-ray spectroscopic analysis of soil samples from a dumpsite indicates that as much as 30% of the formed radon may escape, resulting in a disturbance to the secular equilibrium of the U-238 decay series. A method is proposed to quantitatively assess the radon flux from such dumpsites by using a mobile gamma-ray detector system. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Published
- 2004