Assessment of radiation exposures from naturally occurring radioactive materials in the oil and gas industry

Radioactive deposits, often referred to as naturally occurring radioactive material scale, can, because of incompatibility of formation and injection waters, be formed inside production equipment of the oil and gas industry. These scales contain mainly 226Ra and its daughter products, which can cause an exposure risk. The gamma ray dose rates, with the associated occupational doses in the oil and gas industry, and 226Ra concentration in production water, crude oil and hard/soft scale samples were determined. Results obtained are discussed and compared to those from other studies.