DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE

The Ore Treatment Unit is a deactivated uranium mine and milling situated in Caldas, MG, BR. Although disabled, there are still areas considered controlled and supervised from the radiological point of view. In these areas, it is necessary to keep an occupational monitoring program to ensure the wor...

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Main Authors: Wagner De Souza Pereira, Alphonse Kelecom, Ademir Xavier da Silva, José Marquez Lopes, Alessander Sá do Carmo, Ayandra Oliveira Dias, Carlos Eduardo Cogo Pinto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Brazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR) 2019-06-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
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Online Access:https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/523
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author Wagner De Souza Pereira
Alphonse Kelecom
Ademir Xavier da Silva
José Marquez Lopes
Alessander Sá do Carmo
Ayandra Oliveira Dias
Carlos Eduardo Cogo Pinto
author_facet Wagner De Souza Pereira
Alphonse Kelecom
Ademir Xavier da Silva
José Marquez Lopes
Alessander Sá do Carmo
Ayandra Oliveira Dias
Carlos Eduardo Cogo Pinto
author_sort Wagner De Souza Pereira
collection DOAJ
description The Ore Treatment Unit is a deactivated uranium mine and milling situated in Caldas, MG, BR. Although disabled, there are still areas considered controlled and supervised from the radiological point of view. In these areas, it is necessary to keep an occupational monitoring program to ensure the workers' safety and to prevent the dispersion of radioactive material. For area monitoring, the dose rate, in µSv∙h-1, was measured with Geiger Müller (GM) area monitors or personal electronic monitors type GM and thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD), in mSv∙month-1, along the years 2013 to 2016. For area monitoring, 577 samples were recorded; for personal dosimeters monitoring, 2,656; and for TLD monitoring type, 5,657. The area monitoring showed a mean dose rate of 6.42 µSv∙h-1 associated to a standard deviation of 48 µSv∙h-1 with a maximum recorded value of 685 µSv∙h-1. 96 % of the samples were below the derived limit per hour for workers (10 µSv∙h-1). For the personal electronic monitoring, the average of the data sampled was 15.86 µSv∙h-1, associated to a standard deviation of 61.74 µSv∙h-1. 80 % of the samples were below the derived limit and the maximum recorded was 1,220 µSv∙h-1. Finally, the TLD showed a mean of 0.01 mSv∙h-1 (TLD detection limit is 0.2 mSv∙month-1 equivalent to 0.28 µSv∙h-1), associated to a standard deviation of 0.08 mSv∙h-1. 98% of the registered values were below 0.2 mSv∙month-1 and less than 2 % of the measurements had values above the limit of detection. The samples show areas with low risk of external exposure, as can be seen by the TLD evaluation. Specific areas with greater risk of contamination have already been identified, as well as operations at higher risks. In these cases, the use of the individual electronic dosimeter is justified for a more effective monitoring. Radioprotection identified all risks and was able to extend individual electronic monitoring to all risk operations, even with the use of the TLD.
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issn 2319-0612
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publisher Brazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR)
record_format Article
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spelling doaj-art-59895d3e9b4746d7ba32fac8322336012025-08-20T03:51:04ZengBrazilian Radiation Protection Society (Sociedade Brasileira de Proteção Radiológica, SBPR)Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences2319-06122019-06-0172B (Suppl.)10.15392/bjrs.v7i2B.523397DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINEWagner De Souza Pereira0Alphonse Kelecom1Ademir Xavier da Silva2José Marquez Lopes3Alessander Sá do Carmo4Ayandra Oliveira Dias5Carlos Eduardo Cogo Pinto6Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil; Universidade Veiga de Almeida Curso de Pós-Graduação em Ciências do Meio AmbienteFluminense Federal UniversityUFRJFederal University of Rio de JaneiroFederal University of Rio de JaneiroUniversidade Veiga de AlmeidaUniversidade Veiga de AlmeidaThe Ore Treatment Unit is a deactivated uranium mine and milling situated in Caldas, MG, BR. Although disabled, there are still areas considered controlled and supervised from the radiological point of view. In these areas, it is necessary to keep an occupational monitoring program to ensure the workers' safety and to prevent the dispersion of radioactive material. For area monitoring, the dose rate, in µSv∙h-1, was measured with Geiger Müller (GM) area monitors or personal electronic monitors type GM and thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD), in mSv∙month-1, along the years 2013 to 2016. For area monitoring, 577 samples were recorded; for personal dosimeters monitoring, 2,656; and for TLD monitoring type, 5,657. The area monitoring showed a mean dose rate of 6.42 µSv∙h-1 associated to a standard deviation of 48 µSv∙h-1 with a maximum recorded value of 685 µSv∙h-1. 96 % of the samples were below the derived limit per hour for workers (10 µSv∙h-1). For the personal electronic monitoring, the average of the data sampled was 15.86 µSv∙h-1, associated to a standard deviation of 61.74 µSv∙h-1. 80 % of the samples were below the derived limit and the maximum recorded was 1,220 µSv∙h-1. Finally, the TLD showed a mean of 0.01 mSv∙h-1 (TLD detection limit is 0.2 mSv∙month-1 equivalent to 0.28 µSv∙h-1), associated to a standard deviation of 0.08 mSv∙h-1. 98% of the registered values were below 0.2 mSv∙month-1 and less than 2 % of the measurements had values above the limit of detection. The samples show areas with low risk of external exposure, as can be seen by the TLD evaluation. Specific areas with greater risk of contamination have already been identified, as well as operations at higher risks. In these cases, the use of the individual electronic dosimeter is justified for a more effective monitoring. Radioprotection identified all risks and was able to extend individual electronic monitoring to all risk operations, even with the use of the TLD.https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/523dose rateuranium mineradioprotection
spellingShingle Wagner De Souza Pereira
Alphonse Kelecom
Ademir Xavier da Silva
José Marquez Lopes
Alessander Sá do Carmo
Ayandra Oliveira Dias
Carlos Eduardo Cogo Pinto
DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
Brazilian Journal of Radiation Sciences
dose rate
uranium mine
radioprotection
title DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
title_full DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
title_fullStr DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
title_full_unstemmed DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
title_short DOSE RATE IN A DEACTIVATED URANIUM MINE
title_sort dose rate in a deactivated uranium mine
topic dose rate
uranium mine
radioprotection
url https://bjrs.org.br/revista/index.php/REVISTA/article/view/523
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AT alessandersadocarmo doserateinadeactivateduraniummine
AT ayandraoliveiradias doserateinadeactivateduraniummine
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