Uranium Radiation Exposure

(last updated 14 Jan 2022)

These pages provide information needed for an assessment of typical exposure situations to radiation from uranium.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Uranium Industry Workers: Mine · Mill · HWR Fuel Fab. · Magnox Fuel Fab. · Conversion and Enrichment · LWR Fuel Fab.
• Uranium Industry Residents: Mine · Mill · Mill tailings · Conversion and Enrichment
• Denture Containing Uranium: Workers · Wearers
• Household Items Containing Uranium: Workers · Users
• Depleted Uranium Counterweights
• Depleted Uranium Weapons

> see also:

• Unit Converter
• Uranium Radiation Properties · Uranium Toxicity
• Uranium Biokinetics Calculator
• Uranium Radiation Individual Dose Calculator
• Health Effects of Radiation: Dose and Risk

Introduction

Human tissue exposed to radiation may develop cancer. The radiation from each of the nuclides present in the uranium decay series affects the human health in a different way, depending on:

• the type of radiation (alpha, beta, gamma) and its decay energies
• the exposure situation (external, ingestion, or inhalation),
• the behaviour of the nuclide inside the human body (depending on its chemistry), in case of ingestion or inhalation
• the specific radiation sensitivity of the type of tissue exposed

For each nuclide and for each exposure situation, dose coefficients are available which allow to determine the radiation dose resulting from exposure to a certain amount of activity. At present, the dose coefficients of ICRP60/61 (1990) are widely used, while revised dose coefficients have been presented for workers in ICRP68 (1995) and for the public in ICRP72 (1997). The ICRP68/72 dose factors show significant differences from those in ICRP60/61: The new inhalation dose factors for uranium and thorium are about a factor of 4 lower, and for actinium a factor 2 lower, while the new ingestion dose factors are slightly higher. The dose coefficients for workers were again revised in ICRP137/141 (2017/2019).

For an analysis of the health hazards resulting from exposure to uranium and/or its decay products, a number of assessments has to be done for each specific exposure situation:

• which nuclides are present at what concentrations *)
• which transient processes have to be considered
• what are the relevant exposure pathways

The following pages compile this information for a number of typical exposure situations for uranium industry workers and residents living near uranium industry facilities, for denture containing uranium, household items containing uranium, depleted uranium counterweights and depleted uranium weapons.

*) In cases, where radionuclide concentrations cannot be measured, mathematical modeling has to be performed to obtain concentration estimates resulting from the emissions of the facility of interest. For a selection of suitable free software packages, see Dose modeling software.

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