Physico-chemical characteristics of uranium compounds: A review

Abstract

Purpose: To collect values of parameters describing the physico-chemical properties of different uranium compounds in order to quantify their variability and to propose specific parameters for different workplaces and compounds.

Material and methods: The published values of absorption parameters, gastrointestinal absorption fractions, activity median aerodynamic diameters and geometric standard deviations of the particle size activity distribution were collected.

Results: Average and median values for each chemical form and workplace were determined for these parameters. These values can be used when no precise information is known for dose assessment following internal contamination by uranium. This review presents and discusses the variability of these parameters for the different uranium chemical forms and workplaces. Finally, sensitivity of the dose coefficients to these parameters was quantified.

Conclusion: Specific parameter values for different workplaces and compounds were proposed and the variability quantified.

Keywords::

• Uranium
• variability
• absorption
• particle size

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank Ester De Frutos Martin for her contribution to this review. This work was supported by the project in Internal Dosimetry (DOSINTER) co-funded by the AREVA Company (La Défense, France) and the French Institut for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN, Fontenay-Aux-Roses, France).

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Supplementry material available online

Supplementary Tables I–III.