Preliminary Study of Natural Radioactivity in the Lake Bosumtwi Basin

The concentrations of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in water from Lake Bosumtwi and bore-holes in selected towns around the Bosumtwi basin of the Ashanti region of Ghana have been determined. The concentrations were determined for water samples from 24 boreholes and 12 points across the lake using a High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) (γ-ray spectrometry. The water samples from the lake were found to contain acceptable levels of radionuclides with mean activity concentrations of 7.9, 89.7 and 0.6mBq/L for 238U, 40K, and 232Th, respectively. The water samples from the boreholes recorded mean activity concentrations of 7.7, 85.5, and 3.3mBq/L for 238U, 40K and 232Th, respectively. The annual effective dose calculated for the lake varied from 0.244 to 1.121μSv with an average of 0.763μSv and that calculated for the boreholes varied from 0.296 to 2.173μSv with an average of 1.166μSv. The radionuclides concentrations in water from the bore-holes and that of the lake, which serve as sources of water supply to the surrounding communities are negligible and pose no radiological hazards to the public.

並列關鍵字

Borehole water ； bosumtwi ； effective dose ； lake water ； radioactivity

國際替代計量

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