Environmental evaluation of radioactivity levels and associated radiation hazards in groundwater around the WIPP site

He, Rong; Liaw, Steven; Zhou, Meng; Zhou, Xiao-Dong; Luo, Hongmei

doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113849

Title: Environmental evaluation of radioactivity levels and associated radiation hazards in groundwater around the WIPP site

Journal Article · Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.113849· OSTI ID:1977068

He, Rong ^[1]; Liaw, Steven ^[1]; Zhou, Meng ^[1]; Zhou, Xiao-Dong ^[2]; Luo, Hongmei ^[1]

New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)
Univ. of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA (United States)

Groundwater may contain radioactive substances which can be dangerous to human health. Concentrations of natural radionuclides polonium (Po), thorium (Th), uranium (U), and radium (Ra) isotopes were measured in groundwater samples collected from different locations in the vicinity of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site in Carlsbad, New Mexico. The average values of gross activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po, ²²⁸Th, ²³⁸U, ²³⁴U, ²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra isotopes were determined to be 1.62 Bq L^-1 in shallow groundwater and 5.88 Bq L^-1 in deep groundwater, respectively. The total radioactivity in deep groundwater was higher than that in shallow groundwater, and most of the radioactivity in the water is from ²²⁶Ra. Furthermore, the effective doses for ingestion of natural radionuclides were about 0.333 mSv ^y–1 for shallow groundwater and about 1.338 mSv y^–1 for deep groundwater samples, which are higher than the World Health Organization (WHO, 2017) guideline level (0.1 mSv y^–1) for drinking water. Ra dominated the total ingestion dose, contributing 93.06 % and 75.40 % of the total effective doses to the deep and shallow groundwater, respectively. The ingrowth and decay of natural radionuclides suggested that ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio can be a useful indicator of the source of radioactive contamination. The radioactivity data obtained from the investigated groundwater samples can be used to establish a baseline for radioactivity levels in groundwater around the WIPP site.

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Research Organization:: New Mexico State Univ., Las Cruces, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)

Grant/Contract Number:: EM0002423; EM0005159

OSTI ID:: 1977068

Journal Information:: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Vol. 242; ISSN 0147-6513

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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