Natural and man-made radionuclides in sediments of an inlet in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

The distribution of natural radionuclides (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (40)K and man-made radionuclides ((54)Mn, (60)Co and (137) Cs) in the surface sediments of an inlet of Ribeira Bay were investigated. Sediment samples were collected and analyzed for radionuclides, organic matter, carbonate, sulfate, cationic exchange capacity and grain size composition. The natural radionuclide concentrations ranged from 4.4 to 45, from 10 to 93, from 66 to 1347Bq·kg(-1) dry weight for (226)Ra, (228)Ra and (40)K, respectively. Natural radionuclide concentrations tend to be higher in the silt fraction, which determines their pattern distributions. Only one sample presented measurable concentration for (137)Cs, while (54)Mn was detected in two samples and (60)Co in four sediment samples. Man-made radionuclides present a maximum value of dose external four times lower than the normal background and the potential risk due to the presence of man-made radionuclides in sediments is lower than the risk provided by the natural radionuclides.

Radioactive characterization of phosphogypsum from Imbituba, Brazil.

This research aims to characterize the content of natural occurring radionuclides in phosphogypsum stacks at Imbituba, Santa Catarina state, Brazil. (226)Ra, (228)Ra, (40)K, (238)U and (232)Th were determined in PG, soils and sediment samples by gamma spectrometry using the hyper pure germanium detector and neutron activation. The migration of radionuclides in the phosphogypsum profile did not show the same behavior for all sampling sites. The mean activity concentration of (226)Ra was 95 Bq kg(-1), which is far below the limit recommended by the U.S. Environmental Agency (USEPA) for its application in agriculture (370 Bq kg(-1)) and the Brazilian Commission of Nuclear Energy Resolution 113 that established a reference level of 1000 Bq kg(-1) of (226)Ra or (228)Ra for the use of PG in agriculture as well as building materials.