Assessment of natural radiation in a former uranium mine: A technical capacity building development

The utilization of tracers is essential for understanding the behavior, transportation routes, final destinations, and deposition of sediments. In hydrogeological investigations, nuclear techniques employ radioactive isotopes as artificial tracers. However, the implementation of nuclear technologies demands caution, and there is a scarcity of publications addressing the environmental and human impact of radioactive tracers. The research project “Development of Radiometric Methods and Modelling for Sediment Transport Measurement in Coastal Systems and Rivers,” coordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and conducted by the Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear (CDTN), proposes an approach based on natural radiation. The Caldas Decommissioning Unit (UDC Caldas) was selected for this study owing to its decommissioning requirements and high levels of natural radiation. One of the research objectives is the transfer of technology and knowledge, as evidenced by the collaboration with the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá (UTP). Researchers conducted surveys to acquire georeferenced data on naturally occurring radionuclides, that is, potassium (<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">40</sup>K), thorium (<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">232</sup>Th), and uranium (<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">238</sup>U), using a portable spectrometer at UDC Caldas. Subsequently, the data processing was carried out using the ‘R’ programming language and QGIS software to generate maps for examining the measured variables in classes (natural breaks) and interpolation (Inverse Distance Weighting - IDW).