Uranium contents in drinking water limescale samples in the junction zone of the East European Platform and Southern Ural (Republic of Bashkortostan)

An assessment of uranium contents in drinking water limescale has been conducted in the territory of Republic of Bashkortostan – the region of the European part of Russia with a total area of 143600 km2, located at the junction of two major geological structures: Western part of the territory located within the Eastern European platform, while the Eastern part is confined to the Ural Mountains. A total of 515 samples of carbonate sediments (limescale) from 262 settlements of the RB were collected. The samples were taken in accordance with the recommendations [Method of determination ..., 2007] and based on the experience of previous studies. Sampling was carried out from various utensils (enameled and electric kettles, pots, boilers) used for boiling water, both from centralized and individual (wells, streams) sources of water supply. The spread of U concentration values in limescale samples ranged from 0.01 to 61.0 µg/g. Analysis of U content was carried out by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) using IRT-T TPU research nuclear reactor (nuclear geochemical laboratory of the international innovative scientific and educational centre "Uranium Geology", accreditation certificate № RA.RU.21АБ27 from 08.04.2015, analytics A.F. Sudyko, L.F. Bogutskaya). This method is effective for determination of radioactive elements [Witkowska et al., 2005; Frontasyeva, 2011; Sudyko, 2016].

本研究针对俄罗斯欧洲部分行政区巴什科尔托斯坦共和国（Republic of Bashkortostan）开展饮用水水垢中铀含量的评估工作。该区域总面积达14.36万平方千米，地处两大主要地质构造的交汇处：西部领土隶属于东欧地台，东部则属于乌拉尔山脉范围。研究共采集巴什科尔托斯坦共和国262个居民点的515份碳酸盐沉积物（水垢）样品。样品采集严格遵循《测定方法……（2007）》的规范，并参考既往研究的成熟经验。采样对象涵盖用于烧水的各类器具（搪瓷壶、电热水壶、锅具、锅炉），供水来源既包括集中式供水系统，也涵盖分散式供水（水井、溪流）。水垢样品中铀（U）的浓度分布范围为0.01~61.0 μg/g。铀含量分析采用仪器中子活化分析（instrumental neutron activation analysis，INAA），依托IRT-T TPU研究型核反应堆完成，实验依托国际创新科教中心“铀地质”的核地球化学实验室开展，该实验室资质认证证书编号为RA.RU.21АБ27，签发日期为2015年4月8日，分析人员为A.F.苏季科（A.F. Sudyko）与L.F.博古茨卡娅（L.F. Bogutskaya）。该方法在放射性元素测定领域具备良好适用性[Witkowska等，2005；Frontasyeva，2011；Sudyko，2016]。