Provision of the radiation safety of the public of the eastern districts of the Orenburg region for the use of the drinking water from the underground water supply sources

Starting from 2014, several cases of exceedance of the specific total alpha-activity of the natural radionuclides and specific activity of ²²²Rn were identified in the water of the underground wells in the eastern districts of the Orenburg region. Based on the results of the surveys, a number of settlements were equipped with the systems of aeration of water from underground wells prior to the distribution, but significant expenditures on the technical maintenance of the aeration units lead to their frequent malfunctions. Based on the results of the surveys of the drinking water in settlements of the Adamovskiy, Kvarkenskiy, Novoorkskiy, Dombarovsky, Svetlinsky districts and Yasnenskiy urban district, it was estimated that in some settlements specific activity of ²²²Rn in drinking water exceeded the intervention levels up to a factor of 10. No exceedances of intervention levels for ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁴Ra, ²²⁸Ra, ²¹⁰Pb, ²¹⁰Po and ²³⁸U were identified. Based on the results of experiments and analyses the authors performed the hygienic assessment of the indicators of the radiation safety of the drinking water from the underground water supply sources in several settlements in the eastern districts of the Orenburg region, performed the analysis of the effectiveness of the aeration systems, developed recommendations on the provision of the radiation safety of the public of the eastern parts of the Orenburg region for the use of the drinking water from the underground water supply sources and developed proposals on the improvement of the limitation of concentration of ²²²Ra in drinking water.

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