Determination of selected natural radionuclide concentrations in southwestern Caspian groundwater using liquid scintillation counting

Abstract

Twenty-seven spring water samples from southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea were analysed for their contents of gross alpha and beta, 222Rn, 226Ra and total uranium using a liquid scintillation counter (LSC). Other methods such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) method 900 for gross alpha/beta measurement, radon emanation for 226Ra determination and laser fluorimetry for total uranium content were applied to make a comparison with the LSC technique. The levels of measured 222Rn and 226Ra range from 0.5 to 54 Bq l−1 and from 14 to 297 mBq l−1, respectively. The levels of gross alpha and beta are from 16 mBq l−1 to 1.0 Bq l−1 and from 22 to 630 mBq l−1, respectively. The total uranium contents are from 3 to 66 mBq l−1. It has been shown that the simple liquid scintillation counting technique could be applied conveniently for such studies where analysis of numerous samples is concerned.