Estimating the Discharge Amount of Radon from Production Wells of CO2+O2 Uranium Mine

Abstract

CO2+O2 in situ leaching uranium mine is the representative of the third generation uranium mining and metallurgy technology in China. In terms of radiation protection, the radon emission and the effective dose of the public are significantly lower than that of the second generation uranium mining and metallurgy technology. The production wells are semi-closed system distributed in the lixiviating well field, which has the characteristics of dispersing radioactive radon. In front of lacking pproaches and basic data of radon discharge from production wells, a theoretical model is developed and which is verified with the field monitoring data. It was concluded that 30.83 GBq/a of radon discharges from the production wells, and the normalized release was 0.085 TBq/tU. It fully proves the advantages of CO2+O2 leaching uranium, and provides a method reference and data basis for the release of uranium radon.

Keywords

• in situ leaching uranium mine
• production well
• radon
• radiation protection