[en] Gross alpha activity in surface tailings and surface soils from one inactive uranium mill site has been shown to be an accurate estimator of ²²⁶Ra activity. An exponential regression, ²²⁶Ra = 387(e/sup 0.00166α/ - 1), where ²²⁶Ra activity is in picoCuries per gram and gross alpha activity is in counts per minute per sample, gave a good fit for samples ranging in gross alpha activity from 3 to 1082 cpm/sample. A linear regression, ²²⁶Ra = 1.05 α + 1.78, has been calculated, which shows gross alpha activity to be an excellent estimator of ²²⁶Ra activity in soils contaminated with tailings. The percentage of gross alpha activity attributable to ²²⁶Ra activity has been calculated to be 7.2, 17.6, 18.3, and 17.0 for uncontaminated soils, contaminated soils, tailings, and the total set of samples, respectively