Transport of radon which diffuses from uranium mill tailings

Considerable attention has been given recently to potential hazards of radon exposure in the vicinity of large piles of uranium mill tailings. A procedure has been developed to describe the average annual behavior of radon that escapes from a tailings pile. Dispersion is calculated by using local meteorological data in a Gaussian diffusion model. A comparison has been made between calculated annual average radon concentrations attributable to the tailings pile in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a series of radon measurements which were made in the vicinity of the tailings pile over a period of 1 year. Population exposures were estimated and compared to those associated with exposure to background concentrations of 222Rn. It was found that annual exposures to 222Rn of tailings-pile origin are about 10% of those associated with background 222Rn in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area