A code of practice to control TENORM impact of the non-uranium mining industry

It is recognized that non-uranium mining and milling activities have the potential to cause undesired environmental impacts. These impacts can be observed during the operational and post-operational scenarios. A survey effort was developed to assess these impacts in several mining industries in Brazil. In each industry, the operational process was examined in detail, samples were collected at each operational step, mass balance calculations were performed to assess the stocked amount of radionuclides in the generated wastes, and dose assessments were carried out based on effluent release data and future scenario simulations. The results indicated that no major impacts were expected in relation to the liquid emissions into the environment, the same not being true for the stocked solid wastes such as tailings dams. It could be concluded that for new industries, the concept of dose limitation (1 mSv/year) should be applied. For the existing ones, they should not cause impacts that imply doses exceeding the 1-mSv/year limit. For those in which the predicted impacts are not expected to be higher than 0.3 mSv/year, they should be exempted of further control. In the case of contaminated sites by the previous operation of any industry, the principle of intervention shall be applied.