Comparative Study on U, Th and K Concentrations in Sediments at the Mae Moh Mine and Lam Phra Phloeng Dam

Authors

  • Tidarut Vichaidid Divistion of Physics, Department of Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, Pattani 94000, Thailand.
  • Thongchai Soodprasert National Standard Radioactivity Laboratory, Office of Atoms for Peace, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
  • Natnalin Sastri National Standard Radioactivity Laboratory, Office of Atoms for Peace, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.
  • Sasimonton Moungsrijun Department of Physics, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen Campus, Nakhon Pathom 73140, Thailand.

Keywords:

HPGe, NAA, gamma-spectrometry, uranium, thorium, potassium, Mae Moh mine, Lam Phra Phloeng Dam

Abstract

The concentration of uranium, thorium and potassium in sediment matrices, collected from the Mae Moh mine in Lampang Province, Northern Thailand and from the Lam Phra Phloeng Dam on Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Northeastern Thailand were determined using gamma spectrometry together with a neutron activation analysis technique (NAA). A high purity germanium (HPGe) welltype detector and digital spectrometer were calibrated by reference standard sources to obtain high efficiency for the quantitative evaluation. The concentration of uranium, thorium, and potassium of the Mae Moh mine samples achieved by these techniques was in the range 0.08 to 1.40 ppm, 4.60 to 6.70 ppm, and 0.80 to 1.50%, respectively and significantly lower than the samples collected from the Lam Phra Phloeng Dam which were in the range 2.28 to 2.96 ppm, 8.43 to 16.01 ppm, and 2.04 to 3.30%, respectively. It was shown that the concentration of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM)
depended on the type and formation age of the sediment.

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Published

2009-12-31

How to Cite

Tidarut Vichaidid, Thongchai Soodprasert, Natnalin Sastri, and Sasimonton Moungsrijun. 2009. “Comparative Study on U, Th and K Concentrations in Sediments at the Mae Moh Mine and Lam Phra Phloeng Dam”. Agriculture and Natural Resources 43 (5). Bangkok, Thailand:379-84. https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/anres/article/view/244846.

Issue

Vol. 43 No. 5 (2009): January-December

Section

Research Article

License

online 2452-316X print 2468-1458/Copyright © 2022. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/),
production and hosting by Kasetsart University of Research and Development Institute on behalf of Kasetsart University.