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Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. [1]
These isotopes are produced within earth materials such as rocks or soil, in Earth's atmosphere, and in extraterrestrial items such as meteorites. By measuring cosmogenic isotopes, scientists are able to gain insight into a range of geological and astronomical processes. There are both radioactive and stable cosmogenic isotopes.
The Elephant's Foot is the nickname given to the large mass of corium, composed of materials formed from molten concrete, sand, steel, uranium, and zirconium.The mass formed beneath Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near Pripyat, Ukraine, during the Chernobyl disaster of 26 April 1986, and is noted for its extreme radioactivity.
Lake Karachay (Russian: Карача́й), sometimes spelled Karachai or Karachaj, was a small lake in the southern Ural Mountains in central Russia.Starting in 1951, the Soviet Union used Karachay as a dumping site for radioactive waste from Mayak, the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of Ozyorsk (then called Chelyabinsk-40).
In the '40s and '50s, working with radioactive material was still new, so much of the nuclear waste was improperly disposed of. ... Most concerning is the highly radioactive waste that was stored ...
Uranium is the 48th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. [60] The decay of uranium, thorium , and potassium-40 in Earth's mantle is thought to be the main source of heat [ 61 ] [ 62 ] that keeps the Earth's outer core in the liquid state and drives mantle convection , which in turn drives plate tectonics .
Most plutonium and other radioactive material is contained in concrete and steel structures or underground storage designed to withstand fire. And many sites are on large tracts in remote areas ...
The highest background radiation in an inhabited area is found in Ramsar, primarily due to the use of local naturally radioactive limestone as a building material. The 1000 most exposed residents receive an average external effective radiation dose of 6 mSv (600 mrem) per year, six times the ICRP recommended limit for exposure to the public ...