Investigation of radon-222 emissions from underground uranium mines. Progress report No. 2

Jackson, P.O.; Glissmeyer, J.A.; Enderlin, W.I.; Schwendiman, L.C.; Wogman, N.A.; Perkins, R.W.

doi:10.2172/5697224

Cited by 4 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Their findings corroborate the report of Jackson et al (1980), who estimated that only a very small fraction of the radon released from underground uranium mines in the United States is transported by drainage waters, most of it having already been released into the mine ventilation system. Although we made no attempt to assess the interaction of groundwater and airborne radon transport in the Stripa experimental drifts, it is apparent from our experience that the two are closely related.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Effect of radon transport in groundwater upon gamma-ray borehole logs

Nelson¹

1980

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PREFACEThis report is one of a series documenting the results of the SwedishAmerican cooperative research program in which the cooperating scientists explore the geological, geophysical, hydrological, geochemical, and struc tural effects anticipated from the use of a large crystalline rock mass as a geologic repository for nuclear waste. This program has been sponsored by the Swedish Nuclear Power Utilities through the Swedish Nuclear Fuel Supply Company (SKBF), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.The principal investigators are L.B. Nilsson and 0. Degerman for SKBF, and N.G.W. Cook, P.A. Witherspoon, and J.E. Gale for LBL. Other participants will appear as authors of the individual reports.Previous technical reports in this series are listed below. water inflow is appreciable, the result is quite unusual: the radon daughter activity in the water adds considerably to the contribution from the rock, and in fact often dominates the log response.The total gamma activity increases where radon-charged groundwater enters a borehole, and remains at a high level as the water flows along the hole in response to the hydraulic gradient. As a consequence, the gamma log serves as a flow profile, locating zones of water entry (or loss) by an increase (or decrease) in the total gamma activity.A simple model for flow through a thin crack emanating radon at a rate E shows that the radon concentration of water entering a hole is E/xh, where x is the radon decay rate and h the crack aperture, assuming that the flow rate and crack source area are such that an element of water resides within Because of its ability to measure flow at very low rates in open bore holes, the radon method or variants of it deserve further investigation. It is also apparent that the natural radioelement distribution at a potential waste storage site must be carefully determined. Even with good baseline data, it is possible that the naturally-occurring radioactive component in groundwater can change in response to changing hydrological conditions.High levels of radon in subsurface waters can cause high concentrations in air. For health safety purposes, radon levels in air were monitored for a two-year time period. Air samples from the four working drifts almost always registered less than the 0.3 Working Levels required by U.S. mine safety standards. Maintenance of a safe working environment is attributed to the relatively low water infiltration rates, avoicance of ponding, and continual operation of the ventilation system.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Effect of radon transport in groundwater upon gamma-ray borehole logs

Nelson¹

1980

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“…Of course, the abnormal conditions could cause such profound radon concentration changes that they would significantly affect the average. This minimum protocol was followed by Jackson et al (1980) and was evaluated using two systems of continuous sequential monitors and a statistical evaluation of the dispersion of the measurements. While that interpretation indicated that the relative standard deviation of measurements involved in counting scintillation flasks was about 4% when four samples were averaged, the sampling errors appeared to be larger.…”

Section: Grab Sampling and Radon Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At a fourth vent, variations caused by cyclic vent shutdowns produced ratios as high as 7.3. While Jackson et al (1980) determined that these variations tended to produce a relatively small error in their measurement of the annual average radon emission from the entire U.S. mining industry, based on grab sample determinations of radon in exhaust air, their effect on the average emission rate determined for a single mine can be substantial. Where possible, a large number of grab samples should be collected so that patterns of emission rates and correlations with operations can be established.…”

Section: Grab Sampling and Radon Measurementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of the more costly techniques may be less susceptible to difficulties from ambient conditions but we have not tested them. Jackson et al (1980) made some cross checks with vane anemometers and pitot tubes and cross checks between different pitot tubes at different times. Most of the average measurements agreed to within a range of about 20%.…”

Section: Vent Flow Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• All equipment on site The results of the financial analysis appear in Table 6 The published information that has been located concerning radon emissions from specific underground uranium mines has been limited to two NUREG documents written by Jackson et al (1979Jackson et al ( , 1980. In them are reported the results of measurements obtained by grab sampling air emitted from vents at uranium mines.…”

Section: Stacksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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US uranium mining industry: background information on economics and emissions

Bruno¹,

Dirks²,

Jackson³

et al. 1984

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Employment in the mining and milling sectors has dropped 31% and 17% respectively in 1982. Capacity utilization at mills was 45% in 1982 with only 14 mills still operating by year end out of 20 at the beginning of the year. Many mines were at 50% capacity or on standby status. The depressed nature of the u.s. uranium mining industry can be attributed mainly to a weakened demand for uranium fuel and a low commodity price caused by oversupply.Representative forecasts were developed for reactor fuel demand and u 3 o 8 production for the years 1983 and 1990. Reactor fuel demand is estimated to increase from 15,900 tons to 21,300 tons u 3 o 8 respectively. u 3 o 8 production, however, is estimated to decrease from 10,600 tons to 9,600 tons respectively. This projected decrease in u 3 o 8 production can be attributed to a predicted increase in imports and a predicted continuation of inventory liquidation. In 1983, imports are estimated at 28% of uranium used in the u.s •• increasing to an estimated 37.5% in 1990.A field examination was conducted of 29 selected underground uranium mines that represent 84% of the 1982 underground production. Data was gathered regarding population, land ownership and private property val1Jation. Out to 2 km total population was 618 persons. Average land ownership was 22% private, 17% mining company and 61% government. The value of land and structures was l.l estimated at $9,378,270 out to 2 km. The annual cost to control land out to 2 km was estimated at $3,012,000 equivalent to a $0.29 per pound u 3 o 8 increase in the cost of production based on 1982 production.An analysis of the increased cost to production resulting from the installation of 20-meter high exhaust borehole vent stacks was conducted. For a most likely case, increased cost would be $0.493 to $0.881 per ton of ore or $0.062 to $0.242 per pound of U30g.An assessment was made of the current and future 222Rn emission levels for a group of 27 uranium mines. It is shown that 222 Rn emission rates are increasing from 10 individual operating mines through 1990 by 1.2 to 3.8 times. But for the group of 27 mines as a whole, a reduction of total 222 Rn emissions is predicted due to 17 of the mines being shutdown and sealed. The estimated total 222 Rn emission rate for this group of mines will be 105 Ci/yr by year end 1983 or 70% of the 1978-79 measured rate and 124 Ci/yr by year end 1990 or 83% of the 1978-79 measured rate.

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Pilot Study of Thoron Concentration in an Underground Thorium Mine

et al. 2022

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The Steenkampskraal mine in the Western Cape Province in South Africa provides some interesting challenges for radiation protection practitioners in view of the high thoron values encountered in this mine. The mine contains high natural thorium concentrations that lead to high thoron activity concentrations, as will be shown in this paper. The influence of ventilation has been studied, and the source term has been investigated by considering the thorium content of the rocks and the thoron exhalation. The thoron activity concentrations are around 10 kBq m−3 at a monazite seam, and the thorium exhalation is consistent with these levels. The thoron concentrations can be reduced by ventilation but not eliminated. However, the thoron progeny can probably be reduced dramatically. Issues that affect the thoron levels are also discussed. Further studies are needed, but the thoron may well not be a radiation protection problem despite the high thoron concentrations.

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Investigation of radon-222 emissions from underground uranium mines. Progress report No. 2

Cited by 4 publications

References 2 publications

Effect of radon transport in groundwater upon gamma-ray borehole logs

Effect of radon transport in groundwater upon gamma-ray borehole logs

US uranium mining industry: background information on economics and emissions

Pilot Study of Thoron Concentration in an Underground Thorium Mine

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