Alpha radioactivity study in coal-ash of thermal power plant using solid state nuclear track detector

Coal combustion in power plants in India produces large quantities coal related wastes, for example flyash and bottom ash. Coal is known to contain trace quantities of naturally occurring radionuclides including uranium. Thus coal ash is also expected to contain those radionuclides. Flyash has become the subject of worldwide interest because of its diverse uses as in the manufacturing of cement, bricks, blocks, etc. Due to presence of higher concentration of primordial radionuclide content it may cause a potential health risk to people. The power plant- ash, if not properly disposed, will be a serious threat to the ambient environment. So it is essential to investigate the presence of radioactivity in the coal ash samples collected from different thermal power plants. In the present work, an attempt has been made to estimate the alpha activity in the coal ash samples collected from Kolaghat Thermal Power Plant, West Bengal using CR-39 plates - a very useful solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD). It is one of the largest thermal power generation centres in West Bengal. This thermal power plant uses sub-bituminous coal from the nearby coalfields. The alpha activity of the samples varies from 1052-3571 Bq/kg. The analysis indicates high level of alpha activity in both fly and bottom ash and the level of activity are maximum among all power plant flyash of India reported so far. (author)