The needs and feasibility of land reclamation of areas affected by enhanced natural radioactivity

The major efforts devoted to disposal of radioactive materials are focused on those originating from nuclear industry. Far less attention has been paid to environmental burden of waste with natural radioactivity enhanced by non-nuclear industry. Such waste differs significantly from classical nuclear ones and the radiation risk is often associated with risk caused by other pollutants. Contrary to the nuclear waste that’s strictly controlled, it has been a common practice to put TENORM

 (Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) into heaps, where they can reach thousands of cube meters or tonnes, without any protection. Exposure to meteorological conditions sets some chemical or physical processes in motion, leading to the selective transfer and accumulation of radionuclides and disequilibrium in decay series.

As a result of the inconclusive European law, that left the decision where risk caused by TENORM is significant under each member state’s competences, non-nuclear industry is hardly ever aware of environmental problems caused by natural radioactivity or expect negative consequences in case of implementing radiation protection measures. This results in the substantial underestimation of the detrimental effects to the environment originating from TENORM. EU member states apart each other try to regulate this problem case by case when but the risk caused by TENORM is rarely taken into account when the treatment of such waste is planned.