Concentrations and activity ratios of radionuclides around the nuclear facilities in Korea

The concentrations and activity ratios of the radionuclides around the nucl ear facilities located in Taejon were determined. The concentrations and ac tivity ratios of uranium isotopes in the downstream decreased with increasi ng distances from the point of discharge and reached the reference value af ter 4 km The concentrations of uranium isotopes in the brook around LWR fue l fabrication facilities were lower than those in the downstream around HWR and LWR fuel fabrication facilities, while the activity ratios of U-234/U- 238 in the brook were higher than those in the downstream. The concentratio ns of uranium isotopes in the ground water measured quarterly were variable depending on the sampling time. The concentrations of the gross alpha of a irborne particulates collected around the nuclear facilities were found to be in the narrow range of 0.02 to 0.10 mBq/m(3) with a mean value of 0.05 m Bq/m(3). Both the concentrations and activity ratios of Cs-137, Pu-239,Pu-2 40 and Sr-90 around the nuclear facilities were not very different from the worldwide fallout. The concentrations of uranium isotopes in the soil samp les around the nuclear facilities were very close to natural background lev els.