Natural radionuclides in milk from the vicinity of a former uranium mine

Natural radionuclides in milk from farms in the vicinity of a former uranium mine Žirovski vrh in Slovenia, from a farm on the reference location, in powdered milk purchased from Ljubljana shops and in milk intended for infant food, were determined. In the milk samples, 238U, 234U, 226Ra, 210Pb and 210Po were determined. After sample preparation, radiochemical separation and preparation of counting sources, 238U, 234U, 226Ra and 210Po were measured by alpha spectrometric system equipped with passivated implanted planar silicon detectors (PIPS) and 210Pb by a gas-flow proportional counter. Activity concentrations varied from 0.009 to 0.354 Bq/kg dry weight for 238U, 0.019–0.177 Bq/kg dry weight for 234U, 0.041–0.110 Bq/kg dry weight for 226Ra, 0.290–0.652 Bq/kg dry weight for 210Pb and 0.055–0.611 Bq/kg dry weight for 210Po. Assessed combined annual effective doses per unit of intake were from 8.7 to 13.0 μSv/year for adults and from 195 to 648 μSv/year for infants.