Are levels of radiation higher in Kakadu than elsewhere in Australia?
On average, no. The level of radiation varies quite a lot from place to place on the Earth’s surface. This is because it depends on factors such as height above sea level (because this affects the amount of cosmic radiation that reaches the surface) and the geology of the area. Also, radiation levels vary between the indoors and outdoors environment (usually being higher indoors). Although Kakadu is in a region with significant uranium mineralization, this is mainly confined to small orebodies buried below the ground surface. There are small areas near uranium orebodies which have somewhat elevated radiation levels (including places where uranium mining has occurred). There is also some measurable uranium-series radioactivity in streams due to erosion of orebodies and of uranium mine workings (particularly in the upper South Alligator River area). However, on average radiation levels in the park are close to the Australian average of approximately 2 mSv per year.
