NORM assessment at gas and oil fields in Ukraine

摘要

The article gives an overview of the naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) content assessment in soil and sludge samples from the gas and oil fields in Ukraine. The research work includes measurements of the gamma radiation exposure rates from the industrial facilities as well as gamma spectrometric measurements of soil and sludge samples. The average exposure dose rate at the industrial site of the facility was established to 44μR/h, with maximum values measured at the sites of temporary storage for discarded pipes. The NORM content in the soil samples from the industrial site ranged between 8 and 32 Bq/kg for Ra-226 and between 8 and 11 Bq/kg for Th-232, with maximum values measured in the samples from the pipe sorting station. The assessment of the NORM average specific activity in sludge samples from different spots on the industrial site estimated that values may differ as much as 3 times, with the maximum of 29700 Bq/kg of Ra-226 and 4800 Bq/kg of Th-232. It was established that the NORM content in the soil samples taken at the pipes sorting and storage sites at the Okhtyrskoe industrial site can in average be 2 to 8 times higher than at similar sites of other oil and gas facilities.