Natural radionuclides in industrial and rural soils

Radium-226, lead-210, uranium and thorium are dispersed in the environment by fly ash emitted by coal fuelled power stations. Concentrations of these nuclides have been determined in fly ash from three power stations and in soils collected in six industrial and twenty rural regions. In industrial areas the concentrations of natural radionuclides, in a 5 cm thick surface soil layer, were found to be higher than in lower layers. With the exception of lead-210 this effect was not observed in rural soils, which contained less of radium-226, uranium and thorium. It was found that the type of coal, or combustion technology, influences the amount of radium-226 dispersed in the environment which is accessible to plants.