Reassessment of individual dosimetry of long-lived alpha radionuclides of uranium miners through experimental determination of urinary excretion of uranium.

Urinary excretion of uranium of 40 uranium miners was determined by the high-resolution inductively coupled mass spectrometry method. The concentration of uranium in the urine of the miners was converted to daily excretion of (238)U either under the assumption that the daily urinary excretion is 1.6 l or daily urinary excretion of creatinine is 1.7 g and compared with the excretion of (238)U calculated with a biokinetic model. Input data to the excretion model were derived from personal three- component ALGADE dosemeters, using the component for the estimation of inhalation of long-lived alpha radionuclides. Experimentally found contents of uranium in the urine of uranium miners are generally lower than the modelled ones, which means that the dosimetric approach is conservative. The uncertainty of inhalation intakes, derived from the measurements of filters from personal dosemeters, and the uncertainty of the concentration of uranium in the urine are discussed.

A review of exposures to radon, long-lived radionuclides and external gamma at the Czech uranium mine.

This paper presents the results of the personal exposure monitoring conducted in the RoZná uranium mine in the Czech Republic. In this mine, which has been operated since the late 1950s, personal ALGADE dosemeters have been used since 1998. A group of 600 miners employed during the period 2000-09 has been analysed. Annual exposures to radon decay products, long-lived alpha emitters and external gamma radiation are described. These components play an essential role in the estimation of the total effective dose. The dependence of the exposures on the type of mining job is also assessed.

Results of the 2010 National Radiation Protection Institute intercomparison of radon and its short-lived decay product continuous monitors.

During the Sixth European Conference on Protection Against Radon at Home and at Work held in autumn 2010 in Prague, the first intercomparison of continuous radon and its short-lived decay product monitors was organised and held by the Natural Radiation Division of the National Radiation Protection Institute (NRPI) in Prague. Eight laboratories submitted eight continuous radon monitors, two electronic monitors, three passive integral systems based on charcoal and three continuous radon short-lived decay product monitors. The intercomparison included exposures to both the radon gas concentration and equivalent equilibrium radon concentration (EEC) under different ambient conditions similar to the ones in dwellings. In particular, the influence of the equilibrium factor F, unattached fraction of EEC f(p) and absolute air humidity were investigated. The results of the radon gas measurements were performed on a calibration level of about 8  kBq m(-3). The results of all monitors were compared with the reference NRPI monitor.

Estimates of the annual average indoor radon concentration in Telecí in the Czech Republic.

Indoor radon concentrations are subject to diurnal and seasonal variations. In order to obtain an unbiased estimate of the annual mean radon concentration, measurements made over periods less than 12 months have to be adjusted accordingly. In this paper, hourly radon measurements from one uninhabited rural house in Telecí in the Czech Republic have been analysed. The data were collected over a period of 1 y. The behaviour of the radon concentration with time and its relationship with the outdoor temperature, wind speed and atmospheric pressure have been studied. Different estimates of the annual mean radon concentration based on short-term continuous measurements have been assessed.