Reassessment of radiation exposures of underground non-uranium mine workers in Western Australia
Abstract
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com. In the 1990, radon and radon progeny was reported to contribute approximately 70% of the average 1.4 + 1.0-mSv annual dose across 26 Western Australian underground non-uranium mines. The Western Australian underground mining workforce has expanded significantly, and parameters used to calculate doses have changed significantly, warranting a review of the 1990's data. The review concludes that doses received by the contemporary mining workforce has increased on average, by 5.4%, with annual dose estimates ranging from 0.53 to 3.56 mSv, with a mean of 1.33 mSv. Doses in 12 of the 23 underground mines exceed 1 mSv and are required to comply with radiation safety legislation. It is estimated that 5400 underground workers will fall into the greater than 1-mSv category. The collective dose to the underground worker population has increased by 4.5 times from 3060 man mSv (2173 workers) to 13 669 man mSv (8597 workers).
Keywords
[RSTDPub], Radiation, radiation exposure, underground, mining, non-uranium mine, workers, Western Australia
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2020
Volume
191
Issue
3
PubMed ID
33095242
Publication Title
Radiation protection dosimetry
Publisher
Oxford University Press
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
32340
Copyright
subscription content
First Page
272
Last Page
287
Comments
Ralph, M. I., Hinckley, S., & Cattani, M. (2020). Reassessment of radiation exposures of underground non-uranium mine workers in Western Australia. Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 191(3), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.1093/rpd/ncaa131