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Non-nuclear industries use raw materials containing significant levels of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). The processing of these materials may expose workers engaged in or even people living near such sites to technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM) above the natural background. Inductively coupled plasma and gamma ray spectrometry have been used to determine major and trace elements and radionuclide concentrations in various samples, respectively, in order to investigate the environmental impact of coal mining and cement plant in North Sinai, Egypt. Generally, very little attention was directed to the large volumes of waste generated by either type of industrial activities. Different samples were analyzed including various raw materials, coal, charcoal, Portland and white cement, sludge, and wastes. Coal mine and cement plant workers dealing with waste and kaolin, respectively, are subjected to a relatively high annual effective dose. One of the important finding is the enhancement of all measured elements and radionuclides in the sludge found in coal mine. It may pose an environmental threat because of its large volume and its use as combustion material. The mine environment may have constituted Al, Fe, Cr, and V pollution source for the local area. Higher concentration of Al, Fe, Mn, B, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Sr, V, and TENORM were found in Portland cement and Zn in white cement. Coal has higher concentrations of Al, Fe, B, Co, Cr, and V as well as Ra and Th. The compiled results from the present study and different worldwide investigations demonstrate the obvious unrealistic ranges normally used for Ra and Th activity concentrations in coal and provided ranges for coal, Portland and white cement, gypsum, and limestone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes the concentrations of radioisotopes in soil, sediment, wild plants and groundwater in southwestern Sinai. The study area extends from Suez to Abu Rudies along the eastern part of the Suez Gulf. It included two hot springs: Ayun Musa and Hammam Faraoun. No dependence of 137Cs concentrations on any of the measured sand characteristics was found, including calcium carbonate. The enrichment of 226Ra in Hammam Faraoun hot spring was the most prominent feature. The 226Ra concentration in hot springs of Ayun Musa and Hammam Faraoun were 68 and 2377 Bq kg–1 for sediments, 3.5 and 54.0 Bq kg–1 for wild plants and 205 and 1945 mBq l–1 for the groundwater, respectively. In addition, 226Ra activity concentration in local sand in the area of Hammam Faraoun was ∼14 times that of Ayun Musa. On the other hand, the 232Th concentrations were comparable in the two hot springs, while 137Cs concentrations were relatively higher in Ayun Musa. The characteristics and radioelements studies support possible suggestions that the waters in the two hot springs have different contributions of sea and groundwaters crossing different geological layers where the water–rock interaction takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study compares the external dose due to the gamma-ray emitting radionuclides in various areas in North Sinai, Egypt. The whole area was divided into 10 regions. The average absorbed dose rates were evaluated for each region. It was found that Zaranik-protected area and Al-Massaid have the highest values of 72.7 and 57.2 nGy h-1, respectively. The corresponding values of the remaining regions were <23 nGy h-1. The mean annual effective dose equivalents for the four largest cities Rafah, El-Sheikh Zuwaied, Al-Arish and Bir El-Abd were 20.8, 18.8, 57.4 and 14.0 mSv, respectively. The results are compared with those from different areas in Egypt and in various countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]