Remote radiation monitoring system at uranium exploration site in Mkuju river

Abstract

Usage of radioactive materials in a number of countless activities has increased rapidly worldwide, thus, increasing Uranium exploration in different countries including Tanzania. As Uranium decays, it emits ionizing radiations, which has health risks associated with it. The major threats occur when ionizing radiations produced during uranium decay exceed their levels. Causing skin burns and acute radiation syndrome, though in the long-term cause cancer and cardiovascular disease, are the substantial health effects to mention a few. Thus real-time and remote monitoring of radiation at uranium mining sites is mandatory to ensure environmental and human safety. Radiation detectors are used to monitor radiation at uranium mining sites by frequently visiting however achieving real-time and remote monitoring is still the challenge. This method is time-consuming and the existing radiation detectors used in Tanzania are exported from developed countries and are expensive. This design science study presents an effective and affordable system for remote monitoring of radiation at uranium mining sites using internet of things (IoT) technology. The system used prototype methodology and the radiation detector was programmed by using ESP32 microcontroller board. Which through its inbuilt Wi-Fi it was able to send data to the cloud data storage. The Message Queuing Telemetry Transport protocol facilitated remote visualization of radiation levels from the cloud storage dashboard and the developed mobile application. The end-users monitored radiation data and received notifications in case of excess radiation through the developed mobile application. The internet of things technology facilitated the end-users to visualize and monitor radiation levels anytime and anywhere via the internet.