Prominent artificial radionuclide activity in the environment of coastal Karnataka on the southwest coast of India

Studie-s on radiation level and radionuclide distribution in the environment of coastal Karnataka were undertaken to provide baseline data for the future assessment of the impact of the nuclear and thermal power stations that are being set up in the region and to understand the behaviour of radionuclides in the environment. As part of the programme the concentration of two important artificial radionuclides, namely 90Sr and 137Cs, have been measured in a number of environmental samples. The concentration of 90Sr is very low in most of the samples. Among the samples analysed for the concentration of 137Cs, soil samples showed elevated levels of activity in some sampling stations. Among the vegetables, brinjal (Solanum melongena. L.) showed considerable activity. The internal dose due lo intake of 90Sr through diet was 0.42 [mu]Sv year^-1 for the vegetarian population and 0.32 [mu]Sv year ^-1 for the non-vegetarian population. The internal dose due to dietary intake of 137Cs was found lo be 0.34 [mu]Sv year^-1 and 0.26 [mu]Sv year^-1 respectively for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian population. The results are discussed in the light of the literature values reported for other environs of India and abroad and appropriate inferences are drawn.