Assessment of environmental radioactivity at uranium mining, processing and tailings management facility at Jaduguda, India

The uranium mines at Jaduguda and nearby areas of the Singhbhum thrust belt of Jharkhand State are the only operating mines in India, which supply fuel to nuclear power plants. The gamma radiation dose rates observed at different locations 1 m above the tailings surface vary from 0.8 to 3.3 μGy h−1. The geometric mean activity concentration of 222Rn in air over the tailings ponds I and II were found to be 30 and 23 Bq m−3, respectively, but reduces to the local background level at the boundaries of the tailings ponds. The uranium and 226Ra levels in the ground water sources in the vicinity of the tailings pond are very similar to the regional average of 3.6 μg L–1 and 23 mBq L−1, respectively, indicating that there is no ground water migration of radioactive material from the tailings pond. This paper gives a brief account of the environmental radioactivity monitoring during uranium mining, ore processing and waste management operations.