Browsing by Author "O'Brien, BG"

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    Baseline environmental radon survey at Lake Way, Western Australia, September 1979
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1981-04) O'Brien, BG; Whittlestone, S
    A survey of radon and radon daughters in the air has been made at and within a few kilometres of the possible uranium mine near Millbillillie at the northern edge of Lake Way, Western Australia. The data have been correlated with meteorological measurements taken concurrently with the radon survey. In addition radon emanation rates and radon levels in water have been measured at a broad range of sites to define more closely the magnitude and extent of radon in the environment.
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    Meteorological and radiation measurements at Nabarlek, Northern Territory, June to July 1979
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1981-09) Clark, GH; Davy, DR; Bendun, EOK; O'Brien, BG
    A meteorological and radiation measurement program was conducted near the then developing uranium mine at Nabarlek in the Northern Territory. The two-filter tube radiation measuring technique was checked and compared with the continuous radon monitor and instant working level meter techniques. In general the Nabarlek meteorology was characterised by weak stable layers and good ventilation conditions with winds rarely less than 1ms -1. A comparison of wind measurements made near the open pit with those taken some 800 m away gave evidence of horizontal changes in the wind field over the site. Strong daytime winds gusting higher than 10 ms -1 caused a visible suspension of dust from the site. Dust deposition samples indicated that thorium-230 in air on site was a factor of twelve below the maximum permissible concentration for employees in Australia but uranium was lower by several orders of magnitude. The concentrations of radioactivity in the aquatic food pathway external radiation levels and radon daughter concentrations from deposited dust were likewise at least two orders of magnitude below the maximum concentrations permissible in Australia.
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    Radon survey at the Koongarra uranium deposit, Northern Territory
    (Australian Atomic Energy Commission, 1978-11) Davy, DR; Dudaitis, A; O'Brien, BG
    A survey of radon concentrations in groundwater soil-air and the atmosphere was made at the Koongarra Uranium Deposit, Northern Territory. Radon daughter concentrations in the atmosphere were measured for a range of atmospheric stability categories and are expressed in working level units. Surface radon emanation rates were measured over undisturbed sections of the ore body to provide an estimate of the daily rate of radon release from the ore body; this estimate was then compared with the value expected from an above-ground tailings dam constructed as a result of mining of the ore body. Surface radon emanation rates were also measured for small mock heaps designed to be representative of waste rock and ore stockpile material. Taken collectively, the data can be used to provide estimates of radon source terms and radon concentrations in and from a mining and milling operation based on the deposit.