Natural radioactivity of ground waters and soil in the vicinity of the ash repository of the coal-fired power plant “Nikola Tesla” A—Obrenovac (Yugoslavia)

Radioactivity of U, Th and 40K has been tested in the vicinity of the ash repository of coal-fired power plant “Nikola Tesla” A in Obrenovac (Yugoslavia). By using the methods of alpha and gamma spectrometry, as well as luminescence spectrophotometry, it has been found that the ash repository is a source of radionuclides of the uranium and thorium series and spreads direction of ground waters up to a distance of several hundred metres. The influence of the repository on the soil radioactivity has been found to be minimal, whereas the balance of the first members of series (238U-234U-230Th; 232Th-228Th) has not been disturbed.