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Assessment of inhalation exposure potential of

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J Radioanal Nucl Chem
DOI 10.1007/s10967-014-3288-6
Assessment of inhalation exposure potential of broken uranium
ore piles in low-grade uranium mine
Durga Charan Panigrahi • Patitapaban Sahu •
Devi Prasad Mishra • Vivekanand Jha •
R. Lokeswara Patnaik
Received: 3 March 2014
Ó Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2014
Abstract This paper presents the assessment of inhala-
tion exposure potential of broken uranium ore piles in
different stopes of Jaduguda uranium mines of India. 222Rn
emanation coefficient of broken uranium ore was measured
in laboratory by collecting air sample from airtight glass jar
containing ore sample. An attempt was also made to cor-
relate the emanation coefficient with 226Ra content of the
ore. The 222Rn progeny doses estimated based on radon
activity concentration of broken ore, occupancy period and
equilibrium ratio in different stopes were well below the
prescribed limit of International Commission on Radio-
logical Protection. The maximum 222Rn progeny dose
contribution from broken ore piles was worked out to be
0.22 mSv year-1. This suggests that the broken ore piles
are not the significant contributor of inhalation exposure
under the existing ventilation condition of Jaduguda ura-
nium mine.
Keywords Underground uranium mine  Broken uranium
ore  222Rn emanation coefficient  226Ra content  222Rn
progeny exposure  Mine ventilation
Introduction
Uranium-bearing minerals mostly occur at greater depths
below ground and hence extraction of uranium ore is
D. C. Panigrahi  P. Sahu  D. P. Mishra (&)
Department of Mining Engineering, Indian School of Mines,
Dhanbad 826 004, India
e-mail: devi_agl@yahoo.com
V. Jha  R. L. Patnaik
Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre, Trombay, Mumbai 400 085, India
primarily done by underground mining methods. Among
the oxides of uranium, uraninite and pitchblende are the
most common mineral forms of uranium. Uranium in the
ore is always associated with the members of its decay
series. Radioactive equilibrium in the ore among the
members of the series may or may not exist depending on
the nature of the deposit, which in turn depends on the
factors like age, weathering conditions and ecological
factors. In the absence of suitable control measures, the
radioactive nature of the uraniferous minerals may cause
occupational hazards to the mine workers. The contribution
to the radiological hazards from 238U (half-life of
4.47 9 109 years) and its decay products is of primary
concern in uranium mines due to the large abundance of
238
U (99.2739 %) in the natural uranium [1]. Radium
(226Ra), which is formed in the disintegration series of
238
U, is the natural source of high radiation level in ura-
nium mines [2, 3]. Since 226Ra has a long half-life of
1,600 ± 7 years [4], it acts as an effective source of 222Rn
gas with a relatively short half-life of 3.82 days in mine air.
222
Rn and its decay products constitute the main occu-
pational radiation exposure and their residence in under-
ground uranium mine environment depends on the
ventilation conditions of the mine. The freshly formed decay
products of radon readily attach themselves to the surface of
airborne ultrafine dust particles. When the dust laden mine
air is inhaled, radon decay products deposit preferentially in
the respiratory tract and emit alpha particles. Extensive
epidemiological studies have revealed a significant correla-
tion between exposure to radon decay products and induction
of lung anomaly in underground uranium mines [5–12]. It
has been reported that the dose to the lung from inhalation of
radon is insignificant in comparison to the dose delivered by
its decay products [13]. The wide coverage in inhalation dose
evaluation methodology of radon progeny is based on the
123

estimation of radon activity concentration, equilibrium ratio
and occupancy period [14]. If radon which emanates into the
mine atmosphere can be removed through rapid air change,
then the radon gas entering the mine air will have insufficient
time to build-up appreciable quantities of its decay products.
An average 20 min residence time of radon in mine air will
develop 30 % of the equilibrium decay product working
levels in the mines [15, 16]. Thus, radon in mine air can be
considered as an indicative of the inhalation hazards and
monitoring of radon activity concentration level in uranium
mines is essential to ensure the regulatory compliance for
protecting the occupational workers.
Broken ore piles constitute one of the important sources of
radon emanation in underground uranium mines and mea-
surement of emanation coefficient of the uranium ore forms an
important basis for assessing the potential hazards to the
miners. The radon concentration contributed by broken ura-
nium ore in mines can be evaluated by measuring the radon
emanation coefficient, i.e. the fraction of radon which escapes
from the ore matrix [17]. The measurement of emanation
coefficient of broken uranium ores has been conducted by
several researchers [18–20]. Raghavayya [21] used an accu-
mulation jar for determination of emanation coefficient of the
uranium ore samples based on measurement of surface area of
the samples. This method may not be suitable for determina-
tion of emanation coefficient from the irregular ore samples
because of the inaccuracy in the measurement of surface area
of irregular ore samples. Although, periphery tracing method
is used to measure the surface area of irregular samples, this
may not give accurate result since it does not take into con-
sideration the curvature of the ore samples. Bossew [22]
measured the radon emanation coefficient of rock samples
using active charcoal enclosed with the investigated sample in
a sealed container for more than 1 week. This technique may
give high uncertainties in the results due to leakage of air in the
longer period of experiment.
Keeping this in view, we measured the radon emanation
coefficient of the uranium ore samples enclosed in an air-
tight glass jar of 1 L capacity in the laboratory based on
measurement of mass of the ore sample. This mass-related
approach is comparatively simpler and quicker than the
aforementioned techniques. Furthermore, it would not add
large uncertainties which are associated with the mea-
surement of surface area of the samples. The aim of this
study is to estimate 222Rn progeny doses based on radon
activity concentration of broken ore, occupancy period and
equilibrium ratio in the stopes.
Description of the study area
The present investigation was carried out at Jaduguda
uranium mine located in the Singhbhum shear zone of
123
J Radioanal Nucl Chem
Jharkhand, India (Fig. 1). The shear zone is of about
160 km length and 1–10 km width. The uranium ore
lenses of Proterozoic age are hosted in the highly folded
and sheared metamorphic rocks. Uranium-bearing miner-
als occur in a very finely disseminated form. The host
rocks are brecciated quartzite and quartz-chlorite-biotite-
magnetite schist. The primary ore mineral is uraninite
occurring as discrete grains along with autunite and tor-
bernite [23]. The strike of the main ore body at Jaduguda
dipping towards north is in the east–west direction. The
maximum vertical extent and thickness of the ore body
are about 905 and 10 m, respectively. Horizontal cut-and-
fill method is the principal stoping method adopted in
Jaduguda mine, in which the stoped out area is filled with
the aqueous slurry of de-slimed coarser fraction mill
tailings.
Materials and methods
Materials
Thirty-two broken uranium ore samples were randomly
collected from nine stopes of Jaduguda uranium mine for
determination of radon emanation coefficient and radium
activity concentration. The collected ore samples were kept
in plastic bags and the location and date of sample col-
lection were noted on the plastic bags. The samples were
broken into small pieces of less than 5 cm thickness using a
hammer for determination of emanation coefficient. After
determination of emanation coefficient, the samples were
dried in a temperature controlled oven at 105 °C for 24 h to
completely remove the moisture for determination of
radium activity concentration. The samples were then kept
in the desiccators for cooling to room temperature and
preventing ambient moisture absorption.
Measurement of radon emanation coefficient
of uranium ore samples
The emanation coefficient of the broken ore samples was
measured in the laboratory by enclosing the ore samples in
a 1 L capacity airtight jar into which radon gas emanating
from the ore sample was allowed to accumulate. After a
build-up period of 5–6 h, air sample from the jar was
drawn into an evacuated scintillation cell. For determina-
tion of the radon activity concentration, the scintillation
cell was connected to the photomultiplier assembly and
alpha counting set up after a delay period of about 200 min
to ensure equilibrium between the radon and its short-lived
progeny in the cell. The detailed experimental method for
determination of the radon activity concentration has been
described elsewhere [24].
J Radioanal Nucl Chem
Fig. 1 The location and lithological units of Jaduguda uranium mine
The radon activity concentration in the accumulation jar
increases till it attains equilibrium activity concentration
(Ceq) after 30 days. This equilibrium concentration in the
accumulation chamber is presumed to be equal to the radon
concentration in the pore spaces among solid grains. The
radon build-up curve can be expressed as [25]
Ct ¼ Ceq ð1  ekt Þ
where Ct is the radon concentration measured at time ‘t’
(Bq m-3), k is the radon decay constant (2.09 9 10-6 s-1)
and t is the accumulation time of radon in the jar (s).
The emanation coefficient ‘f’ was calculated using the
relation [26]
Ceq Ve C t Ve
f ¼ ¼ ð2Þ
CRa M CRa M ð1  ekt Þ
where Ve is the effective volume of jar (m3), M is the mass
of ore sample (kg) and CRa is the radium activity concen-
tration (Bq kg-1).
For measurement of 226Ra activity concentration (CRa),
the oven-dried ore samples were crushed, sieved though
standard sieve of 200 mesh size and homogenized. 2 g of
the powdered sample was subjected to repeated leaching in
8 N HNO3 after initial evaporation in concentrated nitric
acid. The mixture was filtered using 0.45 lm filter paper
and the residue was subjected for silica removal using
hydrofluoric acid. The residue was dissolved in dilute nitric
acid and mixed with the original aliquot. Thereafter, the
mixture was made up to 100 ml maintaining the resultant
acid normality at 4 N [27]. 50 ml of the leach aliquot was
transferred to a radon bubbler. The radon sample from the
solution was drawn from the bubbler into an evacuated
scintillation cell after a delay period ([20 days) allowing
sufficient build-up of radon. The method of measurement
of 226Ra activity concentration of the ore samples is
available elsewhere [27, 28]. The radium activity ‘226Ra’
(Bq) in the ore samples was estimated at 95 % confidence
interval using the relation
ck
226
Ra ¼ ð3Þ
3Eekt ð1  ekh Þð1  ekT Þ
ð1Þ
where c is the number of alpha counts during time T, k is
the decay constant of 222Rn (s-1), E is the efficiency of the
counting set up (%), t is the delay time after end of the
sampling (s), T is the counting duration (s), h is the build-
up time in bubbler (s). The radium activity concentration
‘CRa’ (Bq kg-1) in the ore sample was worked out using
the above equation and other sampling parameters such as
weight of the sample, volume of the solution loaded in the
bubbler (50 ml) and the total volume of solution prepared
from the sample (100 ml).
Assessment of inhalation exposure due to 222
Rn
progeny
Assessment of exposure due to radon progeny by the
miners can be theoretically worked out if the information
about attributable factors such as radon emanation from the
ore, equilibrium ratio and radon elimination by ventilation,
radioactive decay are available. Radon production rate
from ore was calculated using the relation [29]
q ¼ m  CRa  k  f  1;000 ð4Þ
-1
where q is the radon production rate (Bq s ), m is the
quantity of broken ore (ton) and 1,000 is the factor for
conversion of tonnage to kilogram. The concentration of
radon ‘CRn’ (Bq m-3) emanated from the ore samples was
calculated using the relation [25, 30]
123
 J Radioanal Nucl Chem

q Table 1 Statistical parameters of 226

Ra content and emanation
CRn ¼ ð5Þ
V  ð k þ kv Þ coefficient of uranium ore samples
226
where V is the air volume of the stope (m3) and kv is the Parameters Ra content Emanation
(Bq kg-1) coefficient
ventilation rate in the stope (s-1). The ventilation rate in
the stope was calculated using the following relation Minimum 259 0.008
Maximum 19,950 0.072
Q
kv ¼ ð6Þ Arithmetic mean 4,729 0.025
V
Median 3,569 0.022
where Q is the airflow rate in the stope (m3 s-1). Standard deviation 4,436 0.016
The annual effective dose ‘HE’ (mSv year-1) contrib- Skewness 1.54 1.66
uted by broken ore was calculated using the relation Kurtosis 3.31 3.04
Tex  F  CRn  Dcf Geometric mean 2,705 0.022
HE ¼ ð7Þ
170  3;700 Geometric standard deviation 3.42 1.75

where Tex is the time of exposure within a year (in hours), F is

the equilibrium factor, Dcf is the dose conversion factor
(mSv WLM-1), 170 is the number of hours per working month
and 3,700 is the 222Rn concentration (Bq m-3) which is in
equilibrium with its progeny corresponding to a potential alpha
energy concentration of 1 working level ‘WL’. The Interna-
tional Commission on Radiological Protection has recom-
mended an equilibrium factor value of 0.4 for the purpose of
radiation protection in uranium mines where the equilibrium
factor is unknown or difficult to determine experimentally [9].
However, an equilibrium factor value of 0.5 determined by
Eappen et al. [31] for Jaduguda uranium mine has been used for
calculation of annual effective dose. The total occupational
exposure period, which is normally taken as 2,000 h per year,
includes the time spent by the miners at different places starting
from the surface facilities to mine entrance, underground travel
ways and finally at actual work sites such as stopes, develop-
ment drivages, etc. Relaxation period in change room and time
spent at surface job are also included in this overall occupancy
period. Further, occupancy is highly dependent on the nature of
job such as mining, blasting, mucking, drilling and mainte-
nance. A realistic dosimetric reference equation, which incor-
porates all these features, has been provided elsewhere [32, 33].
Keeping this in mind, the maximum time spent by a miner in
stopes or the actual ore winning areas can be worked out to be
4 h day-1. Therefore, the maximum annual occupational
exposure period in operations associated with handling of
broken ore piles can be presumed to be about 1,000 h year-1. In
the present study, the conversion factor of 5 mSv WLM-1
reported by ICRP-65 was used for the calculation of internal
dose received by a miner.
Results and discussion
222
Rn emanation coefficient of the ore samples
Table 1 presents the statistical parameters of 226Ra content
and emanation coefficient of 32 broken uranium ore
samples analysed in this study. 226Ra content of the ore
samples varied in the range of 259–19,950 Bq kg-1 with
geometric mean of 2,705 Bq kg-1 and geometric standard
deviation of 3.42. This variation in 226Ra content may be
due to the heterogeneous distribution of uranium-bearing
minerals in the ore. The emanation coefficient of the ore
samples varied in the range of 0.008–0.072 with the geo-
metric mean of 0.022 and geometric standard deviation of
1.75. Austin and Droullard [18] reported the emanation
coefficient of uranium ores ranging from 0.01 to 0.91.
Thompkins [3] reported the emanation coefficient of Elliot
Lake ore, Italy ore and Australia ore as 0.0197, 0.0097 and
0.0877 respectively with their respective ore grades of
0.075, 0.029 and 0.025 %. The emanation coefficients of
different types of uranium ore such as autunite, carnotite
and uraninite were reported in the ranges of 0.02–0.04,
0.12–0.19 and 0.12–0.15 respectively [34]. Mudd [19]
reported the emanation coefficient in the range of 0.1–0.3
for Australian uranium rock. This shows that the emanation
coefficient obtained in the present study are falling within
the earlier reported values. However, the variation in the
emanation coefficients reported by different authors may
be due to variation in mineralogy, porosity, moisture con-
tent, grain size, uranium distribution, weathering and rock
type.
The 226Ra content and emanation coefficient of the ore
samples determined in the present study are highly skewed
depicting asymmetrical nature of the distributions. The
positive kurtosis of these data indicates higher and nar-
rower distribution than the normal distribution. The normal
probability plot of emanation coefficient of uranium ore
samples has been presented in Fig. 2. In this figure, the data
distribution shows that the data are deviated much from the
straight line and hence the distribution of data set is
probably not normal. Moreover, the median and geometric
mean values of emanation coefficient were found to be
same. So the assumption of log-normal distribution of data

123
J Radioanal Nucl Chem

2.5 ore piles in different stopes. The 222Rn concentration from

2.0 broken ore piles in the stopes was worked out using Eqs.
1.5 (4) and (5). In order to derive the radon activity concen-
Expected normal value

1.0
tration levels in the stopes, the geometric mean values of
226
Ra activity concentration and emanation coefficient
0.5
were used, since their data sets followed log-normal dis-
0.0
tribution as discussed earlier. The 222Rn concentration from
-0.5 broken ore piles in the stopes varied in the range of
-1.0 12–56 Bq m-3 with arithmetic mean of 23 ± 15 Bq m-3,
-1.5 which is far below the upper value for workplace reference
-2.0 level of 1,500 Bq m-3 recommended by ICRP [35]. This
-2.5
reveals the fact that under the existing ventilation condition
-0.03 -0.02 -0.01 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 of the mine, broken ore piles are not prominent source of
Residuals radon progeny exposure. Although, the present radon level
in the mine is well below the prescribed limit, increase in
Fig. 2 Normal probability plot of emanation coefficient of uranium
ore samples radon activity concentration can be anticipated due to other
attributes such as backfill tailings, mine water and exposed
0.08
ore surface. This may warrant regular update of the
designing and planning of ventilation system of the mine.
0.07
The annual effective dose due to radon emanation from
Emanation coefficient

0.06 r = - 0.32, p = 0.07

0.05
0.04
0.03
0.02
0.01
0
0 5000 10000
226 Ra content (Bq kg-1 )
Fig. 3 Relationship of emanation coefficient with
uranium ore samples
set can be approximated both for 226Ra activity concen-
tration and emanation coefficient.
The variation of emanation coefficient with 226Ra con-
tent of uranium ore samples is shown in Fig. 3, which
indicates an insignificant correlation (r = -0.32, p = 0.07)
between 226Ra content and emanation coefficient. The error
bars in the figure represent 5 % error. A similar finding has
also been reported by Austin and Droullard [18]. The
independence between the activity concentration of 226Ra
and emanation coefficient of 222Rn reveals the fact that the
ore characteristics have an important bearing on the ema-
nation. Further, spatial distribution of radium and presence
of porous network in the ore samples can also contribute to
radon emanation.
222
Inhalation exposure due to
Table 2 presents the radon concentration and correspond-
ing annual effective internal dose contributed by broken
broken ore varied in the range of 0.05–0.22 mSv year-1
with mean value of 0.09 ± 0.06 mSv year-1. This is far
below the prescribed limit of 20 mSv year-1 recom-
mended by ICRP [35]. It may be mentioned here that the
annual effective inhalation dose received by the miners
depends upon the overall radon concentration in work-
places, which arises due to radon emanation from broken
15000 20000 25000 ore piles, waste rock, backfill tailings, ore body and mine
water. It is further affected by ventilation planning of the
226
workplaces. Over the years, it was observed that the mean
Ra content of 222
Rn concentration in the same mine varied in the range of
190–410 Bq m-3 with corresponding overall internal doses
varying from 1.90 to 2.79 mSv year-1 [33], which is also
well below the ICRP prescribed limit of 20 mSv year-1.
Quick removal of broken ore piles, waste rock and proper
ventilation planning of the stopes may further reduce the
radon dose received by the miners.
Figure 4 shows the variation of radon concentration with
ventilation rate in different stopes of Jaduguda uranium
mine. The error bars in the figure represent 5 % error. From
this figure, it may be observed that the radon concentration in
stopes decreases with ventilation rate indicating a negative
correlation (r = -0.66) between them. From Table 2, it is
evident that the radon concentration and the annual effective
dose in Stope 2 and Stope 7 are comparatively higher than the
other stopes. This is attributed to lower ventilation rates in
these two stopes. Although the ventilation rate in Stope 8
(1.19 9 10-4 s-1) was even lower than the ventilation rate
in Stope 2 (1.81 9 10-4 s-1), the radon concentration in
Rn progeny Stope 2 was higher than that in Stope 8 by a factor of two
despite both the stopes were containing almost identical
quantity of broken ore piles. This may be due to the larger
volume of Stope 8 as compared to Stope 2 resulting in drastic

123
 J Radioanal Nucl Chem

Table 2 Summarised results of Location Volume Amount Ventilation Radon Annual effective
radon concentration and of stope of broken rate concentration dose (mSv year-1)
corresponding annual effective (m3) ore (t) (910-4 s-1) (Bq m-3)
internal dose received by miners
in different stopes exclusively Stope 1 4,615 250 4.55 15 0.06
contributed by broken ore piles
Stope 2 2,592 150 1.81 40 0.16
Stope 3 5,573 223.6 2.94 17 0.07
Stope 4 2,359 127.4 5.69 12 0.05
Stope 5 2,608 163.8 5.39 14 0.06
Stope 6 2,871 188.5 3.56 23 0.09
Stope 7 9,067 358.8 0.88 56 0.22
Stope 8 6,975 143 1.19 21 0.09
Stope 9 6,480 133 2.11 12 0.05
Arithmetic mean 23 0.09
Standard deviation 15 0.06

decrease in radon concentration in stopes with ventilation

70
rate indicating a negative correlation between them was
m-3 )

60 222 Rn = 5.5057λ
- v + 40.562 observed. The 222Rn concentration and internal dose levels
r = - 0.66
222 Rn concentration (Bq

50
in the stopes were found to be well below the prescribed
limits recommended by ICRP. Therefore, it may be con-
40
cluded that the broken ore piles do not significantly con-
30 tribute to the inhalation exposure of the miners in a well
ventilated low-grade uranium mine.
20

10 Acknowledgments The authors wish to express their sincere thanks

0 poration of Indian Ltd for granting necessary permission to carry out the
0 1 2 3
Ventilation rate 'λ v ' (×
Fig. 4 Variation of radon concentration with ventilation rate in
stopes
reduction in radon concentration. It is evident that dilution
and removal of radon in mine atmosphere are dependent on
the ventilation system as well as on the open volume of the
mine barring other factors as discussed earlier.
Conclusions
Radon emanation from broken uranium ores collected from
different stopes of Jaduguda uranium mine was measured
in the laboratory using an airtight glass jar. The study
revealed an insignificant correlation between the emanation
coefficient and 226Ra activity concentration of the uranium
ore samples. It was also observed that the emanation
coefficient followed a log-normal distribution with geo-
metric mean of 0.022 and geometric standard deviation of
1.75. 222Rn concentration and internal dose levels in dif-
ferent stopes were estimated based on the emanation
coefficient, 226Ra content and quantity of the broken ura-
nium ores as well as the ventilation rates in the stopes. A
to Mr. D. Acharya, Chairman and Managing Director, Uranium Cor-
4 5 6
research work in Jaduguda uranium mine. Authors are also thankful to
10-4 s-1 ) all the staff members of Health Physics Unit, BARC, Jaduguda for
extending all kinds of supports for carrying out the experiments.
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