Coal Ash and Radioactivity

Coal ash from Tenn. spill being loaded for transport to Alabama

The spill in Tenn. hit land and water

A new report finds radioactivity in coal and coal ash...and that the level of the radioactivity varies by region:

"...this study is the first systematic study to compare radioactivity in coal and coal ash from the Illinois, Appalachian and Powder River basins. The researchers collected multiple samples of coal and coal ash from all three coal-producing basins and then measured the radioactive elements in each sample.
Their tests showed that coal and coal ash from different basins exhibited different levels of radioactivity - the Illinois basin had the most, followed by the Appalachian and then the Powder River, which is in Wyoming and Montana. The tests also showed that the ratio of radium to uranium in the parent coal was consistent with the ratio found in its residual coal ash."

The water in the foreground holds tons of coal Ash in Greene County Ala.

 Also from the study released this month, which says coal ash containment is already tested for metal contamination....

"This study raises the possibility we should also be looking for radioactive elements, such as radium isotopes and lead-210, and including them in our monitoring efforts."
Radium isotopes and lead-210 occur naturally in coal as chemical by-products of its uranium and thorium content. Vengosh's * research team revealed that when the coal is burned, the radium isotopes become concentrated in the coal ash residues, and the lead-210 becomes chemically volatile and reattaches itself to tiny particles of fly ash. This causes additional enrichment of radioactivity in the fly ash.

*Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment