French experience in the field of internal dosimetry assessment at a nuclear workplace. Methods and results on industrial uranium dioxide

The implementation of the new ICRP recommendations and the diversity of industrial exposure materials make it necessary to modify our approach of assessing internal dosimetry. This paper describes a methodology developed to asses different parameters such as activity concentration and particle size distribution at the workplace; physico-chemical characteristics of industrial dust handled; and in vitro and in vivo solubility in order to determine the absorption rate blood. The determination of such specific parameters will lead to dose calculation in terms of committed effective Dose Per Unit of Intake (DPUI). Results obtained for an industrial uranium dioxide, UO2, at a French nuclear facility are presented. (author). 21 refs., 2 figs., 4 tabs