Kallio Antti, Virtanen Sinikka, Leikoski Niina, Iloniemi Eeva, Kämäräinen Meerit, Hildén Timo, Mattila Aleksi
Radiation Practices Regulation, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Rovaniemi, Finland.
Environmental Radiation Surveillance, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, Vantaa, Finland.
J Radiol Prot. 2023 Apr 6;43(2). doi: 10.1088/1361-6498/acc596.
Waste incineration in Europe has been increasing in the past few decades as there is a need to reduce the burden on landfills and their associated environmental concerns. While incineration reduces the volume of the waste, the volume of slag and ash is still substantial. To find out potential radiation risks that incineration residues could set to workers or the public, the levels of radioactive elements in these residues were investigated from nine waste incineration plants in Finland. Natural and artificial radionuclides were detected in the residues, but in general the activity concentrations were low. This study shows that the level of Cs-137 in the fly ash from municipal waste incineration follows the pattern of 1986 fallout zones in Finland, although the levels are significantly lower than in ash from bioenergy production from the same areas. Am-241 was also detected in many samples, although the activity concentrations were very low. Based on the findings in this study, the typical ash and slag residues from municipal waste incineration do not need radiation protection measures for workers or the public even in regions that received up to 80 kBq mof Cs-137 fallout in 1986. The further use of these residues need not be restricted due to radioactivity. Hazardous waste incineration residues and other special cases need to be considered separately, depending on the original waste composition.
在过去几十年里，欧洲的垃圾焚烧量一直在增加，因为有必要减轻填埋场的负担及其相关的环境问题。虽然焚烧减少了垃圾的体积，但炉渣和灰烬的体积仍然很大。为了找出焚烧残渣可能给工人或公众带来的潜在辐射风险，对芬兰九家垃圾焚烧厂的这些残渣中的放射性元素水平进行了调查。在残渣中检测到了天然和人工放射性核素，但总体而言活度浓度较低。这项研究表明，城市垃圾焚烧飞灰中的Cs-137水平遵循芬兰1986年沉降区的模式，尽管其水平明显低于同一地区生物能源生产产生的灰烬中的水平。在许多样品中也检测到了Am-241，尽管活度浓度非常低。根据本研究的结果，即使在1986年接受高达80 kBq/m² Cs-137沉降的地区，城市垃圾焚烧产生的典型灰烬和炉渣残渣也不需要对工人或公众采取辐射防护措施。这些残渣的进一步利用无需因放射性而受到限制。危险废物焚烧残渣和其他特殊情况需要根据原始废物成分分别考虑。
