Investigations on fly-ash and soil samples in the environment of a coal-fired power plant

In the main wind direction of a coal-fired power plant dust and soil samples have been collected to analyse the content of fly-ash coming from the power plant. The fly-ash particles are spherical and contain the natural radionuclides mainly Ra-226, Pb-210, Po-210 and K-40 in a higher concentration when compared with the original coal. The investigation of soil samples results in increased Pb-210 and Po-210 concentrations when compared with the natural environment. By presence of spherical particles in dust and soil samples the power plant can be identified as the emitter.