GENERAL GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The radon daughters give off radiation in the lung when they are breathed in. This causes the lung cancer. The longer miners worked or the greater their exposure to radon daughters (as measured by working level months), the greater the risk for lung cancer. Smoking also causes lung cancer.

Detailed explanation-2: -Uranium mining has widespread effects, contaminating the environment with radioactive dust, radon gas, water-borne toxins, and increased levels of background radiation. Uranium mining is the first step in the generation of both nuclear power and nuclear weapons.

Detailed explanation-3: -Achieving effective radiation safety. Although uranium itself is barely radioactive, the ore which is mined must be regarded as potentially hazardous due to uranium’s decay products, especially if it is high-grade ore. The gamma radiation comes principally from isotopes of bismuth and lead in the uranium decay series.

Detailed explanation-4: -Typical individual doses vary within the range of 3-20 mSv/a (avg. 4.45 mSv/a) for underground miners, and within the range of 1-5 mSv/a (avg. 1.56 mSv/a) for open pit miners, with an average of 4.4 mSv/a over all uranium miners.

Detailed explanation-5: -Exposure to uranium can result in both chemical and radiological toxicity.