Radioactivity of coals and ashes from Catalağzi coal-fired power plant in Turkey.

The Çatalağzı coal-fired power plant (CFPP) is the Turkish CFPP that uses the hard coals produced in Zonguldak, located in the West Black Sea region of the country. Gamma-ray spectrometry was used to determine (226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K contents in pulverised coal, bottom ash and fly ash samples. The natural radionuclide concentrations in pulverised coal ranged from 29 to 61 Bq kg(-1) for (226)Ra, from 32 to 55 Bq kg(-1) for (232)Th and from 229 to 414 Bq kg(-1) for (40)K. The fly ash fraction gave concentrations ranging from 80 to 98 Bq kg(-1) for (226)Ra, from 64 to 85 Bq kg(-1) for Th and from 754 to 992 Bq kg(-1) for (40)K, respectively. The enrichment factors from coal to fly ashes are 1.7, 2.24 and 2.6 for (232)Th, (226)Ra and (40)K, respectively. Therefore, it is advisable to monitor the environmental impact of the power plant.