The radiological impact of phosphogypsum stockpile in Wiślinka (northern Poland) on the Martwa Wisła river water

Abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the concentrations of uranium (234U, 235U, 238U), polonium (210Po) and lead (210Pb) radioisotopes in water samples and to explore the impact of the phosphogypsum stack on the Martwa Wisła waters. The 238U, 210Po and 210Pb concentrations in analyzed water samples reached maximum values of 11.7 ± 0.3, 2.0 ± 0.1 and 3.2 ± 0.1 mBq L−1 and activity ratios were maximally 1.18 ± 0.01 for 234U/238U, 0.041 ± 0.018 for 235U/238U and 0.69 ± 0.10 for 210Po/210Pb. The obtained results suggest that this impact is rather insignificant and does not affect significantly the Martwa Wisła river.