Uranium and Radon Concentrations in Groundwater of the Daejeon Granite Area: Comparison with Other Granite Areas

대전 화강암지역 지하수의 우라늄과 라돈 함량: 다른 화강암지역과의 비교

Abstract

Uranium and radon concentrations in groundwater from 80 wells from Daejeon area were measured to determine the range of concentrations according to the geology. The median uranium content of groundwater was $11.14{\mu}g/L$ for the two-mica granite, $0.90{\mu}g/L$ for the biotite granite, and $0.47{\mu}g/L$ for the Ogcheon group. The median radon content of groundwates was 114.3 Bq/L for the two-mica granite, 61.6 Bq/L for the biotite granite, and 42.2 Bq/L for the Ogchon group, respectively. The uranium content of two-mica granite is 3.78 mg/ kg, which is slightly higher than that of biotite granite 3.20 mg/kg. However, the uranium content in groundwatewr of two-mica granite groundwater is much higher than that of biotite granite. This can be explained by the fact that the two-mica granite is vulnerable to weathering than biotite granite, so uranium in mineral is easily leached into groundwater. The exceeding rate of samples having uranium content above $30{\mu}g/L$ in granite area was 23.8%, which is higher than that of 6.7% in Jurassic granite in Korea. On the other hand, the exceeding rate of samples having radon content above 148 Bq/L in granite rate area was 31.0% which is similar to that of Jurassic granite area of 31.7%.

대전지역의 지질별 지하수의 우라늄, 라돈함량을 파악하기 위하여 80개의 지하수를 채취하였다. 지질별 지하수의 우라늄 함량 중앙값은 복운모화강암지역은 $11.14{\mu}g/L$, 흑운모화강암지역은 $0.90{\mu}g/L$, 옥천 층군은 $0.47{\mu}g/L$으로 복운모화강암지역에서 월등히 높았다. 지질별 지하수의 라돈 함량 중앙값은 복운모화강암지역은 114.3 Bq/L, 흑운모 화강암지역은 61.6 Bq/L, 옥천층군은 42.2 Bq/L로 나타나 지질별 지하수의 우라늄 함량 차이만큼 현지하지는 않았다. 연구지역 복운모화강암의 우라늄 평균함량은 3.78 mg/kg으로 흑운모화강암의 3.20 mg/kg보다 약간 높지만 지하수의 우라늄 함량은 월등히 높다. 이는 복운모화강암은 흑운모화강암에 비하여 풍화에 약하여 광물내 우라늄이 지하수로 쉽게 용출되는 것으로 설명될 수 있으나 추가 연구가 필요하다. 지하수의 우라늄 함량에 비해서 복운모화강암과 흑운모화강암지역 지하수의 라돈 함량에 큰 차이가 없는 것은 복운모화강암지역은 풍화에 약하기 때문에 지하수내 라돈이 대기로 쉽게 빠져나가기 때문으로 판단된다. 연구지역 복운모화강암지역 지하수의 우라늄 함량이 $30{\mu}g/L$를 초과하는 비율은 23.8%로 국내 쥬라기화강암의 초과율인 6.7%보다도 높으나 라돈함량이 148 Bq/L를 초과하는 비율은 31.0%로 국내 쥬라기화강암지역의 초과율인 31.7%와 비슷하다.

Fig. 1. Location and lithology map of the study area with sampling points.

Fig. 2. Distribution diagram of uranium concentration occurrence in the groundwaters of the study area.

Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of uranium concentrations in groundwater on a simplified geological map of the study area.

Fig. 4. Distrubution diagram of radon concentration occurrence in th groundwaters of the study area.

Fig. 5. Spatial distribution of groundwater radon levels on a simplified geological map of the study area.

Fig. 6. Relationship between U and Rn concentrations in groundwater of the study area.

Fig. 7. Distribution diagram of uranium (e(U)) concentration occurrence in the granite of the study area.

Table 1.Geological sequences of the study area

Table 2. Physicochemical properties of 80 groundwater samples in the study area

Table 3. Statistical analysis of the uranium concentrations in the groundwater of each geology

Table 4. Statistical analysis of the radon concentrations in the groundwater of each geology.

Table 5. Statistical analysis of the e(U) concentrations in the rock of each geology.