Radiological impact on the general public due to landfilling of fly ash from coal-fired power plant

In Korea, coal-fired power plants manage fly ash by landfilling, which can cause radiological impacts on the general public. Therefore, a radiation dose assessment must be performed to verify the radiological safety of the general public around the coal-fired power plant. The objective of this study is to assess the radiation dose to the general public in Korean coal-fired power plants. To achieve this, we investigated the radioactivity concentration of fly ash generated from coal-fired power plants. The exposure scenarios were established based on the purpose of the site utilization and characteristics of the general public. The RESRAD-OFFSITE was used to assess the radiation dose. The radiation dose ranged from 2.36 × 10-5 ~ 5.60 × 10-2 mSv yr-1, which was lower than the annual dose limit regulated by the Nuclear Safety Act. The results of this study can be used as technical data for the radiological safety management of a Korean naturally occurring radioactive material facility.