NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY: OCCURRENCE AND APPLICATIONS ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
JOSÉ M. GODOY
IRD/CNEN/MCT and PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Presented by GILBERTO F. DESÁ
Although the radioactivity concept has been intrinsically bounded to its weapon applications or to nuclear disasters, as that of Chernobyl, we should not forget that radioactivity is a natural phenomenon and there are radioactive substances in the air we breathe, in the food we eat and even in our clothes.
Natural radionuclides cover a large variety of chemical elements that allows several applications on environmental studies. One of the most known is dating, not only with 14C but, also, with other radionuclides. The so-called radioactive disequilibrium of the uranium and the thorium series could be applied on the study of geochemical processes as water mixing, residence times and siltation rates.
The present talk aims, initially, to refresh the concept of radioactivity as natural phenomena, including natural radionuclides origin and abundance on different environmental matrices. Following, potential applications on environmental studies will be presented, and, finally, results obtained on several project developed by the Instituto de Radioproteção e Dosimetria/Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear (IRD/CNEN/MCT) and by the Chemistry Department of PUC-Rio. (May 24, 2002).
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
09 Oct 2002 -
Date of issue
Sept 2002
