Some health aspects of Canadian uranium mining

The radiological health hazards associated with uranium mining in Canada are reviewed. Radiation hazards to individual members of the general population currently living in the vicinity of the mines appear to be extremely low. The major health hazards are those associated with underground mining. Hazards associated with the inhalation of radon daughters in the mines were estimated from analyses of available data from the U.S.A. and Czechoslovakia. These data can be fitted by various mathematical models including quasi-threshold models. On the reasonable assumption of a linear relationship between dose and effect, the risk would appear to be about 6.1 induced lung cancers per million WLM per year, which, averaged over a period of incidence of 15 years, would be equivalent to a total of about 100 induced cancers per million WLM. This value may be too high for estimation of the most probable risk of radon daughters to the general public. (author)