[ RadSafe ] query for RadSafe ... radiation from tailings pile

[Andycgeo at aol.com]

Hi all:
 
Back in the 1970's and early 1980's I made a lot of measurements on top of  
uncovered tailing piles and about 1/4 of a mile from the tailings. On top 
of the  tailings as you would expect the radon flux was very high
but radon measurements about 1/4 of a mile from the perimeter of the  
tailings were at background levels. 
 
Andy George
 
 
In a message dated 9/13/2010 11:35:10 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
brees at lanl.gov writes:

As long  as the covering is sufficient to hinder the radon gas migration... 
there are  protocols to test that. 

Brian Rees

-----Original  Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu  
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Miller, Mark  L
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 9:18 AM
To:  'radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu'
Subject: [ RadSafe ] query for RadSafe ...  radiation from tailings pile

Mark,
Assuming that the U-tailings are  covered (and even if they are not) the 
gamma radiation coming from the  tailings are likely to be indistinguishable 
from background within several  hundred yards from the pile itself 
(self-shielding, geometry, soil cover, rock  cover, etc).  The larger potential is for 
the migration of radon gas that  the tailings emit.  If they are covered, 
this is a non-issue.   Finally, if the tailings are NOT covered, the larger 
issue is environmental  spread via wind and water.
Mark Miller


-----Original  Message-----
From: Mark Sonter [mailto:sontermj at tpg.com.au] 
Sent:  Thursday, September 09, 2010 6:32 PM
To:  radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] query for  radsafe

Hi -

Does anyone out there in RadsafeLand have any  simple 'rule of thumb' or 
formula for estimating roughly the skyshine (sky  scattered gamma) from a 
large area of irradiating surface such as a  uranium tailings deposit, 
given area of deposit, radium content in it, and  horizontal distance 
from deposit to receptor point?

Mark  Sonter


-- 
Mark Sonter

Radiation Advice & Solutions  Pty Ltd,   abn 31 891 761 435
Asteroid Enterprises Pty  Ltd,   abn 53 008 115 302

116 Pennine Drive, South Maclean,  Queensland 4280, Australia

Phone / fax  (07) 3297 7653    Mobile 0412 433 286

"Keep everything as simple as possible, but no  simpler"  - A. Einstein

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