Uranium mill tailings and radon

Technical Report · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1981

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6712622· OSTI ID:6712622

Hanchey, L A

The major health hazard from uranium mill tailings is presumed to be respiratory cancer resulting from the inhalation of radon daughter products. A review of studies on inhalation of radon and its daughters indicates that the hazard from the tailings is extremely small. If the assumptions used in the studies are correct, one or two people per year in the US may develop cancer as a result of radon exhaled from all the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Program sites. The remedial action should reduce the hazard from the tailings by a factor of about 100.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6712622
• Report Number(s): SAND-80-2142; TRN: 81-002917
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
RADIATION HAZARDS
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
RADON
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INHALATION
MILL TAILINGS
REVIEWS
RISK ASSESSMENT
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DOCUMENT TYPES
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
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INTAKE
ISOTOPES
METALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ORGANS
POPULATIONS
RARE GASES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
WASTES
054000* - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety
560161 - Radionuclide Effects
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