International Journal of Radiation Research

en Natural radioactivity analysis and radiological impact assessment from a coal power plant Radiation Biology Radiation Biology تحقيق بديع Original Research <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Through combustion, a coal-fired power plant produces by-products, such as fly ash and bottom ash, which contain significant concentrations of radionuclides that cause environmental contamination, leading to health problems. Materials and Methods: This study investigated the specific activity and radiological impacts of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs) in the coal, fly ash, and bottom ash at a coal-fired power plant. Samples were collected from a coal-fired power plant in Malaysia. Results: Gamma spectrometry was used to determine the specific concentrations of NORMs, namely 40K, 232Th, 238U, in each sample. The radioactivity ranges for 238U, 232Th, and 40K in the soil were 22.7–150.7 Bq/kg, 20.7–153.6 Bq/kg, and 68.6–1594.4 Bq/kg, respectively. The coal, fly, and bottom ash samples contained 67.54–189.18 Bq/kg of 238U, 50.2–134.57 Bq/kg of 232Th, and 327.54–1114.40 Bq/kg of 40K. The radium equivalent activities (Raeq) in the samples were 164.55, 467.42, and 429.09 Bq/kg, respectively. Meanwhile, the absorbed dose rate (ADR) in the air ranged from 76.04 to 217.44 nGy/h. Internal and external hazards ranged from 0.44 to 1.26 and 0.63 to 1.77, respectively. The annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) value fluctuated between 521.28 and 1,496.99 μSv. Conclusion: The excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) oscillated from 1.30×10–3 to 3.75×10–3 indoors and 0.32×10–3 to 0.95×10–3 outdoors.</div> Coal, fly ash, bottom ash, uranium-238, thorium-232, K-40. 797 804 http://ijrr.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-1119&slc_lang=en&sid=1 H. Mohamed 7900319475328460025208 7900319475328460025208 No Ghana Institute of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Jalan Ikram-UNITEN 43000 Kajang Selangor, Malaysia A.M. Pauzi 7900319475328460025209 7900319475328460025209 No College of Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Putrajaya Campus Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN 43000 Kajang Selangor, Malaysia N. Ahmad 7900319475328460025210 7900319475328460025210 No Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor Malaysia N.A Karim 7900319475328460025211 7900319475328460025211 No Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor Malaysia M.N.U.I. Wazir 7900319475328460025212 7900319475328460025212 No Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor Malaysia C.N.A.C. Zaiul Bahri 7900319475328460025213 7900319475328460025213 No Agensi Nuklear Malaysia Bangi 43000 Kajang Selangor, Malaysia M.I. Idris idzat@ukm.edu.my 7900319475328460025214 7900319475328460025214 Yes Department of Applied Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi Selangor Malaysia