Radium isotopes in river sediments of Czech Republic

The highest values of the radium-226 activities were found at river profiles where the uranium industry impact was obvious. It turned out that the radium-226 and radium-228 activities ratio is more convenient to assess the level of radium-226 contamination than only the radium-226 activity itself. Based on this hypothesis, the sediment classification scheme for uranium industry contamination was suggested. The natural background activities of radium-226 and radium-228 in the Czech Republic were also evaluated. The case of radium-226 contamination due to the uranium industry was studied in details at the Ploučnice River.