Assessment of the radon concentrations in air caused by emissions from multiple sources in a uranium mining and milling region. A case study of the Ambrosia Lake region of New Mexico

The Ambrosia Lake uranium mining and milling operations were selected to characterize the relative importance of these sources on ambient atmospheric radon concentrations. All uranium mines at Ambrosia Lake are underground. The comparisons of interest were both between the sources and between the sources and background concentrations. The results show that vents are by far the greatest source of the computed radon concentrations in the immediate area of the operations. The computed radon concentrations at receptor points were largely influenced by the closer sources, rather than by more distant stronger sources. The area where computed radon concentrations significantly exceed the background is confined to the general area around the vents and mills. A comparison between computed radon concentrations and monitoring data at selected points demonstrates order of magnitude agreement