 |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
| ||||||||||
|
|  Radiological Assessor Training
DOE-HDBK-1141-2001
Student's Guide
C. Criticality
Uranium-235 and Uranium-233 are both fissile
materials; therefore, facilities handling enriched
uranium and/or Uranium-233 have the potential
for criticality accidents, generating large
amounts of neutron and gamma radiation.
D. Toxicological properties of uranium
Uranium is a heavy metal poison and is toxic in
much the same way lead or mercury is. For
soluble compounds of low enrichments (< 5%
Uranium-235), the toxic properties of uranium
override the radiological hazards. The kidney is
the primary organ of concern.
For insoluble compounds of any enrichment or
all compounds of highly enriched uranium, the
radiological hazards are limiting.
III. Detection, measurement, and survey techniques
A. Monitoring program
A radiation protection monitoring program in a
uranium facility must ensure the detection of
typical ionizing radiations over wide energy
ranges.
To detect alpha radiation from the uranium
isotopes, exposure rate surveys using photon-
sensitive portable and fixed alpha detectors
such, as zinc sulfide or gas proportional
counters, should be used.
Appropriate beta detection instrumentation
should be available to measure decay products
such as Protactinium-234m. If Technetium-99 is
suspected, special low-energy beta particle
detection equipment should be available.
Module 6 - 4
|
|
Privacy Statement - Press Release - Copyright Information. - Contact Us |
Click
here for thousands of PDF manuals