engleski

PHOSPHOGYPSUM SPREAD FROM THE DEPOSITION SITE INTO THE ENVIRONMENT DETERMINED USING RADIONUCLIDES

Phosphogypsum (PG), a waste product in phosphate fertilizer production, is characterized by technically enhanced natural radioactivity. The stationary diffusion model was assumed and employed as a new approach to describe long term PG particle transfer into the surroundings. Active electronic dosimeters were used to measure dose rate originating from natural radionuclides in PG. The advantage of this approach is that it requires a minimal number of measurement locations and offers a realistic and reliable distribution of PG particles. The mass concentration of PG particles decreased to the distance of about 3 m, at most up to 10 m from the deposition site edge. The results indicate that a unique mechanism of particle transport exists and the migration of PG particles by surface water (due to floods) is the dominant way of their spread. The particle current deduced from the measurement results was very low, approximately 4.05 • 10-2 kg/h, and the migration coefficient was approximately 1.69 • 10-5 m2/h.

Phosphogypsum; radioactivity; dose rate; diffusion

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