Radiation Situation Around Commissioning Mine No. 6 of PjSC 'Priargunskiy Mining and Chemical Production Association'

Purpose: Study of the radioecological situation around mine No. 6 of PJSC ‘Priargunsky Industrial Mining and Chemical Association’ named after E.P. Slavskiy" before commissioning.

Material and Methods: During the radiation survey, to measure the ambient dose equivalent rate, the pedestrian gamma survey method was used using the portable spectrometric complex MKS-01A ‘Multirad-M’ (Russia) and the dosimeter-radiometer MKS-AT6101s (Belarus). To study the specific activity of radionuclides in the soil, samples were taken in accordance with GOST 17.4.3.01-2017. The activity of gamma-emitting radionuclides was measured on a stationary gamma spectrometer manufactured by Canberra (USA). The activity of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb was measured on the radiometric system UMF-2000 (Russia) after their radiochemical extraction from samples. Dose assessment of exposure to biological objects was made using dose coefficients established in ICRP Publication 136, considering recommendations R52.18.820-2015.

Results: The results of the study showed that the ambient dose equivalent rate of gamma radiation varied in a wide range from 0.1 to 4.9 µSv/h. The average value in the background areas is 0.14±0.02 µSv/h. The specific activity of natural radionuclides outside the rock dumps, except for ⁴⁰K, in some areas exceeds the background values up to 10 times. The ecological risk for the considered terrestrial biological objects (grass, shrub, soil worm and mouse-like rodents) does not exceed 10^‒2.

Conclusion: There are areas on the territory with traces of anthropogenic activity, which led to man-made radiation contamination. The highest levels of ambient dose equivalent of gamma radiation occur near rock dumps. The rest of the territory has local areas with radioactive contamination. Doses of exposure to biological objects don’t have a significant effect on the incidence, reproduction, and life expectancy of terrestrial biological objects.