Enhancement of trace uranium in fly ash

Fly ash is the end product of coal combustion and coal, like most earth materials, contains 238 U, the parent element of the uranium decay series which supports several radioactive decay products including radon. Large quantities of fly ash are expelled from coal-fired thermal power plants and these may contain enhanced levels of radionuclides along with other toxic elements. In the present study, concentrations of uranium in fly ash, slag and coal samples obtained from two major thermal power plants in India have been estimated using the fission track registration technique. Fly ash and slag have been found to have enhanced levels of uranium when compared with coal