Exposure and radiation protection for work areas with enhanced natural radioactivity

摘要

Work activities with materials containing an enhanced content of natural radioactivityrnmay lead to increased exposures of workers or members of the public. Thus theyrnare subject to radiation protection regulations if reference levels are exceeded asrndescribed in the German Radiation Protection Ordinance which has been in force sincernJuly 2001. To optimize monitoring and/or possible radiation protection measures,rnreliable methods for measurements and exposure assessments have to be developed,rntaking into account material matrices, radionuclides involved, workplace conditions andrnexposure pathways. In this context, case studies have been carried out for both radiationrnexposure of workers at several work places and exposure of members of the public duernto the disposal of industrial residues. In the paper, practical results and conclusions arernsummarized for two cases: (i) exposure of workers during handling and/or milling ofrnzircon sand and (ii) exposure of members of the public who live close to a red mudrndisposal site of an aluminium oxide production plant.