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Radiation effects from uranium ore bodies

Conference ·
OSTI ID:60763
 [1]
  1. Intera, Inc., Vienna, VA (United States)
An approach to developing environmental regulations for high-level waste repositories is by comparison of the effects of natural analogs to the effects of a geologic repository. This paper examines representative uranium ore bodies based on the premise that a geologic repository should pose no more risk than the unmined uranium ore from which the waste was derived. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially examined the effects of uranium ore bodies in developing standards for repositories, and later dropped the comparison in their supporting documentation of the standard (40 CFR 191). Because of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1992, regulations for a repository at Yucca Mountain are again being considered, and information on the effects of uranium ore bodies may contribute to new standard development. This paper develops two repository equivalent uranium ore bodies (in chemically reducing and oxidizing environments) and examines the doses to an individual based on drinking groundwater down gradient from these representative ore deposits. The number of health effects integrated over 10,000 years and the ore body releases are also calculated and compared to the EPA Standard.
Research Organization:
American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, NY (United States); American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, IL (United States)
OSTI ID:
60763
Report Number(s):
CONF-940553--Vol.3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English