Radioactivity and mineral composition of bauxites

Natural radioactivity in refractory manufacturing plants and exposure of workers to ionising radiation

“…Bergamini et al, 1985;UNSCEAR, 1988;NRPB, 1993;Scholten et al, 1993;IAEA, 2007). Moreover, the results on bauxites confirm an earlier study by Parshakov et al (1977) that observed that the radioactivity of bauxites largely depends on thorium, the amount of which often exceeds that of uranium. To our knowledge, there are no data on the concentrations of natural activity in corundums, therefore comparisons are not possible.…”

“…Adams and Richardson (1960) studied thorium and uranium concentrations in Arkansas bauxite and found levels generally much higher than average for crustal rocks. Parshakov et al (1977) investigated radioactive elements in bauxite-bearing deposits of various regions of ex-URSS and of Guinea and reported values up to 300-400 Bq kg À1 for both 238 U and 232 Th. Andrews (1981) measured ore samples collected from a fireclay mine and refractory plant in the United States and found 238 U and 232 Th average concentrations of about 50 and 70 Bq kg À1 , respectively.…”