Radiologische aspecten van opslag en lozing van afvalstoffen door de fosfaatindustrie

The production of phosphate fertilizers from phosphate rock following the wet process leads to the generation of phosphogypsum containing large amounts of natural radionuclides. The removal of radionuclides from the gypsum occurs only on a limited scale. The majority is stockpiled on land or discharged into the surface water. Europe produced in 1991 in total over 4 Mton of P2O5, with an estimated 19 Mton of phosphogypsum. Since 1987 the total European production of phosphate fertilizers decreased. For nine European countries detailed information on phosphogypsum production is obtained: Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Great Britain. In 1991 they generated together an estimated 11.8 Mton of phosphogypsum, which is about 63% of the total European production. 27% is discharged into rivers and seas (3.2 Mton) and 68% is stockpiled on land in special dumpsites (8 Mton). In Belgium the remaining 5% (0.6 Mton) is processed with the aid of a special installation into products suitable to be used in building materials, for road construction etc. The estimated activity (in GBq), discharged in 1991 by the nine countries mentioned above into surface water or stored on land is reported