Study of increasing natural radionuclide due to fly ash discharged at around Labuan coal power plant

Fly ash from coal-fired power plants containing radionuclides will probably potentially improve concentration of natural radionuclides and radiation dose rate in the surrounding environment. The object of this study are to measure and analyze presence of increasing natural radionuclides concentrations around Labuan power plant after 6 years operation. The research method begun with soil sampling whose location was adjusted to the sampling before Labuan power plant operates. The next step was measurement of soil samples using HPGe spectrometers The last step was comparing radionuclide concentration in soil samples on this time with the previous data before Labuan coal-fired power plant operated using t-test comparison. The average concentration of natural radionuclides in soil samples today are Ra-226 23.15 ± 3.05 Bq/kg, Th-232 amounted to 35.89 ± 4.07 Bq/kg, and K-40 amounted to 153.52 ± 16.71 Bq/kg. The value of this radionuclide concentrations did not differ significantly compared with the concentration of radionuclides in soil before Labuan power plant operation. It is concluded that there is no significant increase in the average natural radionuclide concentrations around Labuan power plant. (author)