Uranium mill ore dust characterization
Cascade impactor and general air ore dust measurements were taken in a uranium processing mill in order to characterize the airborne activity, the degree of equilibrium, the particle size distribution and the respirable fraction for the /sup 238/U chain nuclides. The sampling locations were selected to limit the possibility of cross contamination by airborne dusts originating in different process areas of the mill. The reliability of the modified impactor and measurement techniques was ascertained by duplicate sampling. The results reveal no significant deviation from secular equilibrium in both airborne and bulk ore samples for the /sup 234/U and /sup 230/Th nuclides. In total airborne dust measurements, the /sup 226/Ra and /sup 210/Pb nuclides were found to be depleted by 20 and 25%, respectively. Bulk ore samples showed depletions of 10% for the /sup 226/Ra and /sup 210/Pb nuclides. Impactor samples show disequilibrium of /sup 226/Ra as high as +-50% for different size fractions. In these samples the /sup 226/Ra ratio was generally found to increase as particle size decreased. Activity median aerodynamic diameters of the airborne dusts ranged from 5 to 30 ..mu..m with a median diameter of 11 ..mu..m. The maximum respirable fraction for the ore dusts, based on the proposed International Commission on Radiological Protection's (ICRP) definition of pulmonary deposition, was < 15% of the total airborne concentration. Ore dust parameters calculated for impactor duplicate samples were found to be in excellent agreement.
- Research Organization:
- Department of Energy, New York (USA). Environmental Measurements Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 6691840
- Report Number(s):
- EML-384; TRN: 81-003180
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
LEAD 210
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE AEROSOLS
AEROSOL MONITORING
PARTICLE SIZE
RADIUM 226
THORIUM 230
URANIUM 234
URANIUM 238
CASCADE IMPACTORS
DATA COMPILATION
DISTRIBUTION
DUSTS
EQUILIBRIUM
ERRORS
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
URANIUM ORES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AEROSOLS
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
COLLOIDS
DATA
DISPERSIONS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
HEAVY NUCLEI
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INFORMATION
ISOTOPES
LEAD ISOTOPES
MONITORING
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
ORES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
SIZE
SOLS
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
500300* - Environment
Atmospheric- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)