Difference between revisions of "Other Interesting Aspects of Natural Radioactivity"
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Revision as of 11:15, 28 June 2012
Written and developed by Prof. Tor Bjørnstad (IFE/UiO)
Return to Naturally Occuring Radioactivity - NORM and TENORM
Natural Radioactivity in Soil
How much natural radioactivity is found in a volume of soil that is 1 square kilometer, by 50 centimeter deep? The following table is calculated for this volume (total volume is 5 • 105 m3) and the listed activities. It should be noted that activity levels vary greatly depending on soil type, mineral make-up and density (~1.58 g/cm3 used in this calculation). This table represents calculations using typical numbers.
| Average Natural Radioactivity in an upper crust volume corresponding to one square kilometer by 50 cm deep, data taken from the table next page. We suppose equilibrium between 238U and 226Ra and an emanation factor of 222Rn of 0.5. | |||
| Uranium 238 |
36 Bq/kg (1 pCi/kg) |
1500 kg |
28 GBq (0.78 Ci) |
| Thorium 232 |
44 Bq/kg (1.2 pCi/kg) |
7900 kg |
34 GBq (0.93 Ci) |
| Potassium 40 |
850 Bq/kg (23 pCi/kg) |
2528 kg |
670 GBq (18 Ci) |
| Radium 226 |
36 Bq/kg (1 pCi/kg) |
0.78 g |
28 GBq (0.78 Ci) |
| Radon 222 |
28 kBq/m3 (0.76 nCi/m3) |
2.4 µg |
14 GBq (0.38 Ci) |
| |
|
Total: |
>774 GBq (>21 Ci) |
