The radiological impact from airborne routine discharges of a modern coal-fired power plant

• Published in: Journal of environmental radioactivity Vol. 85; no. 1; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Zeevaert, Th, Sweeck, L., Vanmarcke, H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2006; Elsevier
• Subjects: Air Pollutants, Radioactive; Airborne discharges; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biological effects of radiation; Coal; Dose assessment; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Global environmental pollution; NORM; Pollution; Pollution, environment geology; Power Plants; Radiocontamination; Radiological impact; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; Belgium; Europe; NORM; Dose assessment; Airborne discharges; Radiological impact; Coal; Power plants; Radioactive pollution; Pollution control; Radioactive contamination; Radioisotope; Soil pollution; Radium 226; Radioecology; Fly ash; Biosphere; Transfer factor; Dosimetry; Flue gas desulfurization; Human; Atmospheric fallout; Natural radioactivity; Environment impact; Coal power plant; Denitrification; Air pollution; Flue gas purification
• ISSN: 0265-931X; 1879-1700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2005.04.015

In this paper the radiological impact from the airborne routine discharges of a modern coal-fired power plant at Langerlo (Belgium) is evaluated. Therefore, the natural radioactivity contents of the coal and the fly-ash discharged were measured. With a bi-Gaussian plume model the maximum annual values of the 226Ra concentration in the air (4.5 nBq/m 3) and of the total deposition (1.5 mBq/m 2) were calculated. The transfer of the radionuclides from air and soil to the biospheric media, exposing man, were modelled and the annual, individual, effective dose to the critical group, after an assumed life span of the power plant of 70 years, was evaluated at 0.05 μSv/y. This is several orders of magnitude lower than the annual doses for most power plants reported in the literature. The flue gas purification system, extended with a denitrification unit and a desulphurisation unit, was found to be the basis for this low impact.