Re[2]: U-238 in Groundwater

[Alex.Zapantis@ea.gov.au (Alex Zapantis)]

Hi Franz

What do you mean by "fixed"? The current Australian Drinking Water Guidelines
(1996) specify gross alpha (0.1Bq/liter) and gross beta (0.5 Bq/liter, excluding
contribution from K40) as screening levels. If either of these screening levels
are exceeded, radionuke analysis must be undertaken, and a dose assessment done
with the "limit" set at 0.1mSv per annum (excluding K40). For uranium only, a
guideline value of 20ug per liter is recommended. mmmmmmm, I suppose this isn't
really "fixed" is it, as it is only a recommended guideline, but here in
Australia, guidelines such as this tend to be picked up in regulation. Did I
mention that the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines are under review, and I
believe they are moving away from specifying individual radionuke levels, and
towards critical group dose estimation???

Regards

Alex 


This is a proposal only. To my knowledge no country has until now fixed any
maximum contaminant levels. Keep also in mind that uranium is much more
chemically toxic than it is radiotoxic.

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Department for Radiochemistry and Radioactivity of Food
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna
AUSTRIA
tel.: +43-1-40491-520
fax.: +43-1-40491-540

Alex Zapantis             
Health Physicist
Supervising Scientist Group

Email : alex.zapantis@ea.gov.au
Fax : (int+) 61 2  6217 2060
Phone: (int+) 61 2 6217 2037

PO Box E305
Kingston ACT 2604
AUSTRALIA

The Supervising Scientist Group is Part of Environment Australia