Natural radionuclide dose and lifetime cancer risk due to ingestion of fish and water from fresh water reservoirs near the proposed uranium mining site.

Ten sampling locations in Nagarjuna Sagar Dam have been selected to assess the suitability of the reservoir water for human consumption. The sediment, water, and fish samples were collected and analyzed for radionuclide (U, Th, Po, Ra, Pb) and physicochemical parameters like pH, TOC, total hardness, alkalinity, DO, cation exchange capacity, and particle size. The spatial variations among the radionuclides (U, Th, Po, Ra, Pb) in water and bottom sediments of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam were determined. The uranium concentration in the sediment and water was in BDL (<0.5 ppb). The maximum permissible limits in water samples of the analyzed radionuclides are U-10 Bq/l, Po-0.1 Bq/l, Ra-1 Bq/l, and Pb-0.1 Bq/l. The radionuclides in our water samples were approximately 50 times far below the recommended limit. The ingestion of water and fish would not pose any significant radiological impact on health or cancer risk to the public, implicating that the fishes from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam reservoir are safe for human consumption except the fisherman community.