Radiological impact to the environment by fuel fabrication: A comparison between uranium of natural origin and uranium after reprocessing

For emissions into the environment during fuel fabrication the radiological impact is compared between enriched uranium which is made of natural uranium and of reprocessed uranium respectively. The consideration is not restricted to time periods directly after the emission, but is extended to periods much later on the time scale. A person's exposure first decreases with time; but caused by the generation of daughter nuclides in the soil and in spite of migration, it increases again up to a second maximum after a few thousands of years due to the pathway of ingestion. U-232 which is important for specifying reprocessed uranium, turns out to be of subordinate importance in radiological impact. (orig.)