Search results

An environmental radioactivity monitoring programme has been established around the Tuwaitha nuclear site, Baghdad, Iraq, to ensure the safety of the public living around the site and to prove that the nuclear facilities operate within the limits set by competent Iraqi Authorities and international environmental protection standards. Exposure rate measurements were carried out with portable monitors. Gamma spectrometric analysis of environmental samples (soil, vegetables, fruits, and water) was carried out to ensure that radionuclides expected to be released from the site are not concentrated in the environment. The results of the monitoring programme indicated that the average exposure rate was similar to that of the background radiation in Iraq. Furthermore, some environmental samples contained very low‐activity concentrations of Cs‐137.

The radiological consequences on the population of a borax accident in 1994 in the Tammuz 2 nuclear reactor have been postulated. Dose equivalents resulting from the atmospheric release of radionuclides during the accident have been estimated for distances ranging from the exclusion zone to 100km from the reactor. Gamma submersion, beta submersion doses from the plume, inhalation doses and surface exposure doses have been estimated for various exposure times. Dose equivalents estimated for the site boundary for an exposure time of 24 hours were 1.42 − 10mSv. Accordingly, it seemed that the consequences of the accident on the population living around Tuwaitha site could only take the form of stochastic radiation, such as the induction of cancers, and heredity.