Читать книгу Industrial and Medical Nuclear Accidents - Jean-Claude Amiard - Страница 54

Active uranium mines pose generally minimal environmental problems. On the other hand, abandoned mines often cause environmental damage. Waste rock from uranium ore that is too depleted to be economically viable still contains radionuclides from the uranium (or thorium) families which, if poorly controlled, can be leached and returned to the aquatic environment. The G@zette du Nucléaire dossier no. 111/112 deals with this subject [ANO 91].

In France, uranium ore exploration, production, processing and storage activities have been carried out at more than 200 sites in 27 departments. These activities have sometimes led to a change in the natural environment’s radiological state. This change may be significant from a measurement point of view without necessarily being significant from a health point of view. The IRSN [IRS 17b] has carried out several expert assessments of the impact of former French mining sites and proposes an environmental guide value for uranium equal to 0.3 μg.L⁻¹ [IRS 15b].