Radiation Protection Dosimetry Advance Access originally published online on January 25, 2005
Radiation Protection Dosimetry 2005 113(2):195-203; doi:10.1093/rpd/nch447
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Technical Note
Radiological health risk evaluation of radium contaminated land: a real life implementation
Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, SCKCEN, Boeretang 200, B2400 Mol, Belgium
Corresponding author: jparidae{at}sckcen.be
Received October 12, 2004, amended November 24, 2004, accepted December 5, 2004
A plot of land, currently used for dairy farming, has been contaminated over the years with radium due to the operation of one of the world's largest radium production plants. Within the framework of a global remediation approach for the plant surroundings, the land owner needed advice for a future destination of the land. Therefore, the radium contamination was accurately mapped, and on the basis of its severity a practically feasible subdivision of the land into four plots was proposed. For all four plots, the radiological risk was evaluated for the current type of land use and for possible alternative types. Hence a clear and useable advice could be formulated to the authorities reconciling public health, economic and practical issues.