Home / Vol. 26 (2026)

Comparative Radiological Assessment of a Former Thorium Mine and Oilfield Produced Water Lakes

Ezeddine Hamida, Omar Al-Qadaa, Khalifa Shaklof

Petroleum Research Center, Tripoli, Libya
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission
Radiation Measurement and Training Center, Libya

DOI: 10.68482/prj.2026.26.006 · Published Oct 2026 · Section: Environment · Pages: 57–72

Abstract

The mining and mineral extraction industries release numerous pollutants, including naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). In this research, a comparison was made between data from a study published by researchers affiliated with the Ministry of Higher Education of Kazakhstan on the radiation hazards of a former thorium and rare earth elements mining site in northeastern Kazakhstan, and other data on radiation hazards recorded in produced water lakes from oil fields. The Kazakh study analyzed 14 samples, taken from a depth not exceeding 20 cm, while the dried-up oil pits used 7 samples taken from a similar depth, the specific activity concentrations for the Kazakh mining site ranged from 445 to 616 Bq/kg for 40K, 23 to 75 Bq/kg for 226Ra, and 55 to 450 Bq/kg for 232Th, respectively. Whereas the values of these measurements of the oil dry pits ranged between 143 to 7441 for 40K, 1.24x103 to 3.2x105 for 226Ra, and 197 to 1.46x105 for 232Th, Bq/kg respectively. Calculated hazard indicators (radium equivalent activity - Raeq, absorbed dose rate - D, and annual effective dose equivalent - AEDE for the mining site ranged from 141 to 766 Bq/kg, 165 to 332 nGy/h, and 0.08 to 0.41 mSv/y, respectively. For the oil-produced water lakes, these values were significantly higher, ranging from 1.74×10³ to 5.37×10⁵ Bq/kg (Raeq), 783 to 2.37×10⁵ nGy/h (D), and 0.96 to 290 mSv/y (AEDE). These data demonstrate that the radiological hazard potential (based on activity concentrations) is significantly higher in the oil-produced water lakes. However, in reality, oil and gas workers typically receive very low occupational doses. In contrast, workers at mining sites, despite the lower activity concentration in the bulk material, often receive considerably higher radiation doses. The reasons for this apparent contradiction—the difference between hazard and actual exposure are explored in detail in this paper.

Keywords

NORM, mining, oil, gas, radiation hazard indicators s

Download PDF

Petroleum Research Journal
Print ISSN {{ t.issnP }}
Online ISSN {{ t.issnO }}
⌘K
{{ t.searchHdr }} {{ t.clear }}
{{ t.noMatch }}
{{ r.sec }} · pp. {{ r.pages }}
{{ r.title }}
{{ r.authors }}
{{ t.makeSub }}

{{ t.journalName }}

{{ t.heroDesc }}

{{ t.makeSub }}
{{ mIssues }}
{{ t.heroIssues }}
{{ heroLatestCount }}
{{ t.heroLatestArts }}
{{ heroLatestDate }}
{{ t.heroLatest }}
{{ t.newBadge }}
{{ t.heroCurrent }}
{{ latestIssueLbl }}
{{ t.indexedIn }}
{{ ix.name }}{{ ix.text }} {{ t.plagScreen }} iThenticate

{{ t.latestArticles }}

{{ t.fromVol }}
{{ a.sec }}
{{ a.title }}
{{ au.name }}iD{{ au.comma }}
PDF DOI {{ a.doi }} {{ a.views }} {{ a.dl }} {{ t.pp }} {{ a.pages }}

{{ t.atGlance }}

{{ gl.value }}
{{ gl.label }}
{{ t.latestIssue }} {{ latestIssueLbl }}

{{ t.quickLinks }}

{{ ql.label }} {{ qlChev }}

{{ t.tplTitle }}

{{ t.tplSub }}
{{ t.navHome }} / {{ t.archives }} / {{ curIssue.vol }}

{{ curIssue.vol }}

{{ t.published }} {{ curIssue.dateLbl }} · {{ curIssue.count }} {{ t.articlesWord }}

{{ t.issueDesc }}

{{ issueViews }} {{ issueDownloads }}

{{ g.name }}

{{ a.title }}
{{ au.name }}iD{{ au.comma }}
PDF DOI{{ a.doi }} {{ a.views }} {{ a.dl }} {{ t.pp }} {{ a.pages }}
{{ art.sec }}

{{ art.title }}

{{ au.name }}iD{{ au.comma }}
{{ af }}
DOI{{ art.doi }} {{ t.published }} {{ artDate }} {{ t.sectionLbl }} {{ art.sec }} {{ t.pagesLbl }} {{ art.pages }}

{{ t.abstract }}

{{ artAbs }}

{{ t.keywords }}

{{ k }}

{{ t.howCite }}

{{ citeText }}

{{ t.moreCite }} {{ citeChevron }}
{{ cs.name }}
{{ t.dlCiteLbl }} Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX

{{ t.publishedIn }}

{{ artIssueTitle }}
{{ t.sectionLbl }} {{ art.sec }}
{{ t.pagesLbl }} {{ art.pages }}
{{ t.share }}

{{ t.license }}

{{ t.licenseBody }}

{{ t.archives }}

{{ y.year }}

{{ y.countLbl }}

{{ y.stTitle }}

{{ y.stP1 }}

{{ y.stP2 }}

{{ y.stP3 }}

{{ y.stP4 }}

{{ y.stSign }}
 {{ y.stToggleLbl }}
{{ i.noLbl }}
{{ i.vol }}
{{ i.dateLbl }} {{ i.count }} {{ t.articlesWord }}
{{ t.phTitle }}
{{ t.phBody }}

{{ docTitle }}

{{ b.text }}

{{ b.text }}

{{ b.text }}

{{ b.text }}

{{ b.text }}
  • {{ it }}
{{ tblH1 }}
{{ tblH2 }}
{{ r.d }}
{{ r.x }}
{{ t.navHome }} / {{ t.announcements }}

{{ t.announcements }}

No announcements yet.
{{ n.mon }}
{{ n.day }}
{{ n.cat }}
{{ n.title }}
{{ n.sub }}
{{ t.readMore }}
{{ ann.cat }}

{{ ann.title }}

{{ t.posted }} {{ ann.date }} {{ t.edOffice }}

{{ ann.p1 }}

{{ ann.p2 }}

{{ ann.pdfName }}
{{ t.navHome }} / {{ t.authorsBc }} / {{ authorName }}
{{ authorInitials }}

{{ authorName }}

{{ authorAff }}
{{ authorCount }} {{ t.pubsIn }}

{{ t.publishedInThis }}

{{ a.sec }} · {{ a.issueTitle }}
{{ a.title }}
{{ a.authors }}
PDF DOI{{ a.doi }} {{ a.views }} {{ a.dl }} {{ t.pp }} {{ a.pages }}

{{ t.atGlance }}

{{ gl.value }}
{{ gl.label }}
{{ t.latestIssue }} {{ latestIssueLbl }}

{{ t.tplTitle }}

{{ t.tplSub }}

{{ t.editorialTeam }}

{{ m.name }}
{{ m.role }}
{{ m.spec }}
{{ m.aff }}

{{ t.advisoryHdr }}

{{ av.name }}
{{ av.roleLbl }}
{{ av.inst }}
{{ av.country }}
{{ t.viewCv }}

{{ t.signIn }}

{{ t.loginSub }}

{{ authErr }}
{{ authMsg }}
 {{ t.signIn }}
{{ t.newTo }} {{ t.register }}
{{ t.navHome }} / {{ t.searchBc }}

{{ t.searchResults }}

{{ fullCount }} {{ t.resultsFor }} “{{ searchQuery }}”
{{ t.noArticles }}
{{ t.tryDifferent }}
{{ a.sec }} · {{ a.issueTitle }}
{{ a.title }}
{{ au.name }}iD{{ au.comma }}
PDF DOI{{ a.doi }} {{ a.views }} {{ a.dl }} {{ t.pp }} {{ a.pages }}
✓

{{ t.checkEmail }}

{{ t.checkEmailBody }}

{{ t.resetTitle }}

{{ t.resetBody }}

{{ authErr }}

{{ t.newPwTitle }}

{{ t.newPwBody }}

{{ authErr }}
✓

{{ t.regDoneTitle }}

{{ t.regDoneBody }}

{{ t.makeSub }}

{{ t.register }}

{{ t.regSub }}

iD
{{ t.authorRole }}
{{ t.authorRoleDesc }}
{{ t.revRoles }} {{ t.revNote }} {{ t.email }}.
{{ authErr }}
{{ t.haveAccount }} {{ t.signIn }}
{{ t.footCtaT }}
{{ t.footCtaS }}
{{ t.authorGuidelines }} {{ t.makeSub }}
Petroleum Research Journal
{{ t.footDesc }}
Print ISSN {{ t.issnP }} Online ISSN {{ t.issnO }}
{{ t.footJournal }}
{{ t.currentIssue }} {{ t.archives }} {{ t.aboutJournal }} {{ t.editorialTeam }} {{ t.announcements }}
{{ t.footAuthors }}
{{ dm.label }}
{{ t.contact }}
{{ t.address }}
{{ t.phone }}
{{ t.copyright }} CC BY 4.0 {{ t.footLicense }}
{{ pdfViewTitle }}
{{ cvM.init }}
{{ cvM.name }}
{{ cvM.role }} · {{ cvM.aff }}
✕

{{ t.rankHdr }}

{{ cvM.rank }}

{{ t.specHdr }}

{{ cvM.spec }}

ORCID

{{ cvM.orcid }}

{{ t.emailHdr }}

{{ cvM.mail }}

{{ cs.h }}

  • {{ ci }}
    •
{{ t.dlCv }} (PDF)