Economic and Environmental Geology (자원환경지질)

The Korean Society of Economic and Environmental Geology (대한자원환경지질학회)
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Uranium Levels in Groundwater of CGS (Community Groundwater System) of Korea

국내 마을상수도 지하수의 우라늄 함량

  • Cho, Byong-Wook (Groundwater and Ecohydrology Research Center, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources) ;
  • Kim, Moon-Su (Soil and Groundwater Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research) ;
  • Kim, Dong-Su (Soil and Groundwater Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research) ;
  • Hwang, Jae-Hong (Geoscience Data Center, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources)
  • 조병욱 (한국지질자원연구원 지하수생태연구센터) ;
  • 김문수 (국립환경과학원 토양지하수연구과) ;
  • 김동수 (국립환경과학원 토양지하수연구과) ;
  • 황재홍 (한국지질자원연구원 지질자원데이터센터)
  • Received : 2018.08.06
  • Accepted : 2018.11.05
  • Published : 2018.12.28
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Abstract

The uranium concentrations were determined in groundwater collected from 3,820 community groundwater system (CGS) located in remote rural areas where access to the nationwide water work is not easy. The frequency distribution of uranium concentrations shows a lognormal distribution which is common in most radionuclide surveys. The measured maximum uranium concentration was $1,757.0{\mu}g/L$ with an average of $6.46{\mu}g/L$ and a median of $0.76{\mu}g/L$. When grouping the uranium concentration results of CGS into 10 geological units, the median uranium concentration was high ($0.99-2.05{\mu}g/L$) in three granite areas, and low in sedimentary rocks areas and porous volcanic rocks areas ($0.04-0.50{\mu}g/L$). Of the 3,820 samples, 3.8% are above the guideline value of $30{\mu}g/L$ (WHO, 2011). On the other hand, the exceeding rates of JGRA and PGRA CGS are 8.5% and 7.5%, respectively. Therefore, attention should be paid for the development of new CGS along with the management of the existing CGS in JGRA and PGRA areas.

광역상수도의 이용이 어려운 농촌지역의 식수원으로 사용되고 있는 3,820개 마을상수도 지하수의 우라늄 함량을 분석하였다. 전체 마을상수도 지하수의 함량분포는 다수의 데이터가 낮은 농도 값의 범위에 치우쳐 있는 상태를 보였으며 최고 함량은 $1,757.0{\mu}g/L$, 평균 함량은 $6.46{\mu}g/L$, 중앙값은 $0.76{\mu}g/L$으로 나타났다. 3,820개 지하수의 우라늄 함량을 10개의 지질로 분류하면 3개 화강암지역 지하수의 우라늄 함량 중앙값이 높으며($0.99-2.05{\mu}g/L$), 퇴적암과 다공성화산암지역 지하수의 우라늄 함량 중앙값은 $0.04-0.50{\mu}g/L$으로 낮았다. 전체 마을상수도 지하수의 우라늄 함량이 USEPA의 기준치인 $30{\mu}g/L$를 초과하는 비율은 3.8%이나 쥬라기화강암과 선캠브리아기화강암지역의 초과율은 각각 8.5%, 7.5%나 되어 이 지역에서는 기존 마을상수도 지하수의 우라늄 관리와 함께 신규 마을상수도 지하수의 개발에 주의가 요구된다.

Keywords

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Fig. 1. A simplified geological map of the area (A brief description of the units is given in Table 1).

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Fig. 2. Histograms showing the distribution of uranium concentrations of the 3,820 CGS.

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Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of uranium concentrations from 3,820 CGS groundwaters.

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Fig. 4. Box plot showing uranium concentration for each geological unit.

Table 1. Descriptions of the 10 geological units

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Table 2. Statistical analysis of the uranium concentrations (μg/L) in the CGS groundwaters from different geological units

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Table 3. Uranium concentrations in groundwaters from various countries

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Table 4. Uranium concentrations in groundwaters from various countries

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Table 5. International uranium guidance levels (μg/L) for drinking water

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