Determinación de la dosis absorbida gamma en la conseción minera ASONAMBILE de Zamora Chinchipe

Abstract

The ASONAMBILE mining concession in Zamora Chinchipe does not have information regarding the absorbed gamma dose perceived by its workers and residents on an annual basis. Therefore, the objective of this investigation was to estimate the absorbed gamma dose in the ASONAMBILE mining concession in order to verify whether said dose exceeds the established world averages. Using a LUDLUM-440 scintillator detector, monitoring was carried out throughout the area of interest in 19 specific ports, which were systematically generated with the ArcMap software and measured at a vertical distance of 1 meter from the ground. With the results obtained, using the ArcGis software, 2 projections were designed that reflect, through radiometric maps, the absorbed gamma dose and the annual effective dose, representing their values through the variation in color intensity of the maps. The gamma absorbed dose was determined to be 0.08 μSv/h in the north, 0.125 μSv/h in the south, only certain areas in the northeast and northwest have a value of 0.145 μSv/h, and only small areas in the southeast and north have a value of 0.08 μSv/h. The calculation of the average world dose established by the (Nuclear Safety Council, 2010) suggested that the annual radiation dose limits should not exceed 20 mSv/year. The measurements obtained, although it is true, exceed the world average, do not represent a significant risk since they do so to an inconsequential degree; rather, their uncertainty is due to the fact that the measurements could not be fully controlled, especially due to contributions from cosmic radiation and the influence of rain. It is recommended to reduce exposure time inside mines to avoid exceeding the limits.