Investigation of aerial dispersion of radioactive dust from an open-pit uranium mine by passive vinyl collectors

Journal Article · Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1991 · Health Physics; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1097/00004032-199105000-00007· OSTI ID:5479542

Pettersson, H B; Koperski, J ^[1]

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1. Lund Univ. Teaching Hospital (Sweden)

Detailed investigations of the aerial dispersion of radioactive dust from the biggest open-pit U mining and milling operation in Australia were carried out. Spatial distributions of the long-lived radionuclides of {sup 238}U series and their origin, i.e., mining and milling operations vs. natural background radiation, have been studied. Horizontal flux, dry deposition, and ground resuspension of the radionuclides were investigated along a 50-km transect in the direction of the prevailing monsoonal winds in the region. The study was performed by means of unconventional 'sticky vinyl' passive dust collectors, occasionally supported by high-volume air filter samplers. The data from the flux measurements show an inverse square to inverse cubic dependence, and the dry deposition exhibits an inverse square dependence, of radionuclide load vs. distance. The pit has been the predominant contributor of long-lived U series radionuclides to the environment within the radius of several kilometers from the operations. An aerial dispersion computer code (LUCIFER), based on a Gaussian plume model, was developed for the project. Experimental data were used as the code input data. Good agreement between the measured data and the normalized computed results was obtained.

• OSTI ID: 5479542
• Journal Information: Health Physics; (USA), Vol. 60:5; ISSN 0017-9078
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AUSTRALIA
AIR POLLUTION
POLONIUM
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIUM
THORIUM
AIR SAMPLERS
L CODES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
URANIUM MINES
ACTINIDES
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
AUSTRALASIA
COMPUTER CODES
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DISTRIBUTION
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
METALS
MINES
MONITORING
POLLUTION
SAMPLERS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
540130* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)