Evaluation of the radiation hazard in flooding of the underground nuclear explosion zone in Yunkom mine

Abstract

The radiation hazard of the Klivazh object (Yunkom mine, Enakievo, Donetsk oblast, Ukraine) was evaluated, alternative ways of the mine decommissioning were considered, and the radiation hazard of the mine flooding was assessed. Specimens simulating the virtified glass-ceramic melt formed by the nuclear explosion were fabricated, and their chemical resistance (solubility) was examined by leaching of U, Cs, and Sr. The U, Cs, and Sr concentrations in water flowing over the explosion cavity were determined. When the tunnels of only two lower horizons (936 and 826 m) will be flooded, the radionuclide concentrations in the mine water will not exceed 10-4 PCCingest (PCCingest is the permissible concentration in potable water for population, established in the Ukraine). © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2012.