The World of Norm Collection 10 Books Box Set (Book 1-10) By Jonathan Meres

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NORM potentially includes all radioactive elements found in the environment. However, the term is used more specifically for all naturally occurring radioactive materials where human activities have increased the potential for exposure compared with the unaltered situation. Concentrations of actual radionuclides may or may not have been increased; if they have, the term technologically-enhanced NORM (TENORM) may be used.

International Atomic Energy Agency, 2014, Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources: International Basic Safety Standards, STI/PUB/1578 (July 2014) Radon exposure is often an issue in metal mines, and a survey of 25 underground mines in China showed six having radon concentrations of over the control limit of 1000 Bq/m 3. In all the metal mines the annual average effective dose from radon and radon progeny was 7.75 mSv. Mineral sands NORM and cosmic radiation account for over 85% of an ‘average individual’s’ radiation exposure. Most of the balance is from exposure related to medical procedures. (Exposure from the nuclear fuel cycle - including fallout from the Chernobyl accident - accounts for less than 0.1%.) Industries producing NORM Coal Energy– combustion and ash

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Exposure to naturally occurring radiation is responsible for the majority of an average person’s yearly radiation dose (see also Nuclear Radiation and Health Effects paper) and is therefore not usually considered of any special health or safety significance. However certain industries handle significant quantities of NORM, which usually ends up in their waste streams, or in the case of uranium mining, the tailings dam. Over time, as potential NORM hazards have been identified, these industries have increasingly become subject to monitoring and regulation. However, there is as yet little consistency in NORM regulations among industries and countries. This means that material which is considered radioactive waste in one context may not be considered so in another. Also, that which may constitute low-level waste in the nuclear industry might go entirely unregulated in another industry (see section below on recycling and NORM). International Atomic Energy Agency, Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM VII): Proceedings of an International Symposium Beijing, China, 22-26 April 2013, STI/PUB/1664, ISBN 9789201040145 (January 2015)

In South Africa, HolGoun's Uranium and Power Project was investigating uranium recovery from the Springbok Flats coal field, estimated to contain 84,000 tU at grades of 0.06 to 0.10% U. The project is investigating the feasibility of mining the low-grade coal, using it to fire a conventional electricity generation plant, and extracting the uranium from the residual ash. Gonzalez, A, J., 2011, Radiation Protection, presentation given at the World Nuclear University Event –‘Key Issues in the World Nuclear Industry Today’, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

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European Union Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2014:013:0001:0073:EN:PDF Granite, widely used as a cladding on city buildings and also architecturally in homes, contains an average of 3 ppm (40 Bq/kg) uranium and 17 ppm (70 Bq/kg) thorium. Radiation measurements on granite surfaces can show levels similar to those from low-grade uranium mine tailings. Table 8 shows some recorded activity concentrations for building materials. However some extreme values in excess of these have also been recorded. Radioactive Waste in the Oil and Gas Industry, Safety Report Series No. 419, STI/PUB/1171 (ISBN: 9201140037) Typically a soil cleanup level of 0.5 to 1 Bq/g is a goal, though for residential land in UK 0.1 Bq/g is the level required. Material above the target level is sent to landfill, and anything over 100 Bq/g needs to be buried. Heavy metals may be of more concern than radionuclides in such situations.Following the Fukushima accident large areas were contaminated mainly with caesium fallout. In 2016 the government announced that material with less than 8 Bq/g caesium would no longer be subject to restriction regarding disposal. Radon

Excluding uranium mining and all associated fuel cycle activities, industries known to have NORM issues include:

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During mining and milling of zircon, care must be taken to keep dust levels down. Then when zircon is fused in refractories or ceramics manufacture, silica dust and fumes must be collected. This may contain the more volatile radionuclides, Pb-210 and Po-210, and the collection of these gases means that pipeworks and filters become contaminated. The main radiological issue is occupational exposure to these radionuclides in airborne dusts in the processing plant. Waste produced during zirconia/zirconium production can be high in Ra-226, which presents a gamma hazard, and waste must be stored in metal containers in special repositories. Powders from filters used during zirconia manufacture have been assayed as high as 200,000Bq/kg of Pb-210 and 600,000 Bq/kg Po-210. Tin production The largest producers of tantalum are Australia and Africa, most niobium comes from Brazil. Rare Earth Elements Terrestrial NORM consists of radioactive material that comes out of the Earth’s crust and mantle, and where human activity results in increased radiological exposure. The materials may be original (such as uranium and thorium) or decay products thereof, forming part of characteristic decay chain series, or potassium-40. The two most important chains providing nuclides of significance in NORM are the thorium series and the uranium series: McBride et al., 1977, Radiological Impact of Airborne Effluents of Coal-Fired and Nuclear Power Plants, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL-5315 Gabbard, A. 1993, Coal Combustion: Nuclear Resource or Danger?, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Review, Vol. 26, Nos. 3&4

Rare Earth Elements (REEs) are chemically rather similar to uranium and thorium they are often found in conjunction with these radionuclides. For example, scrap steel from gas plants may be recycled if it has less than 500,000 Bq/kg (0.5 MBq/kg) radioactivity (the exemption level). This level however is one thousand times higher than the clearance level for recycled material (both steel and concrete) from the nuclear industry! Anything above 500 Bq/kg may not be cleared from regulatory control for recycling.Current IAEA Basic Safety Standards (BSS) clearance levels specify 1 Bq/g for natural radionuclides in the U-238 series in secular equilibrium with progeny, and the same for those in the Th-232 series. IAEA BSS clearance levels for bulk amounts being recycled are: Fe-55 1 MBq/kg, Co-60m 1 MBq/kg, Ni-63 100 kBq/kg, C-14 1 kBq/kg, Cs-137 0.1 kBq/kg, Ra-226 1 kBq/kg. If the scale has an activity of 30,000 Bq/kg it is 'contaminated', according to Victorian regulations. This means that for Ra-226 scale (decay series ofnine progeny) the level of Ra-226 itself is 3300 Bq/kg. For Pb-210 scale (decay series of three) the level is 10,000 Bq/kg. These figures refer to the scale, not the overall mass of pipes or other material (cf Recycling section below).A 2010 analytical report shows Pb-210 scale at 18.6 MBq/kg from a pipeline in Canada. For seawater injection systems a further NORM issue has more recently come to light: that of bio-film deposits fixing significant amounts of the seawater’s uranium. Mineral sands contain zircon, ilmenite, and rutile, with xenotime and monazite. These minerals are mined in many countries and production amounts to millions of tonnes per year of zirconium and titanium (from rutile and ilmenite), though thorium, tin and the rare earth elements are associated. The NORM aspect is due to monazite – a rare earth phosphate containing a variety of rare earth minerals (particularly cerium and lanthanum) and 5-12% (typically about 7%) thorium, and xenotime – yttrium phosphate with traces of uranium and thorium.IAEA Technical Reports Series no. 419, p 84.NORM VII reported 29,000 Bq/kg Th-232 for zircon in Nigeria Dale, L., Trace Elements in Coal, Australian Coal Association Research Program (ACARP), Report No. 2 (October 2006) A survey of 44 Chinese coal mines (40 of which were underground operations) indicated that radon concentrations in 15% of them were above 1000 Bq/m 3. (NORM VII proceedings, IAEA 2015) Oil and gas production