Health risks from exposures to uranium

the ore is mined and processed. The resulting mining waste and slurries are the first nuclear waste in the nuclear fuel chain. It is widely recognized that exposures to uranium and its decay products are responsible for a major fraction of the total health and environmental impact from the nuclear fuel chain.71 The industry states that global uranium mining has decreased by four percent from 2013-16, but the decline in global uranium mining has accelerated since.72

Practically no uranium mining occurs in the European Union at present, but clean-up and remediation continue at former mines in France, Germany, Portugal, the Czech Republic, and Romania. During mine rehabilitation efforts in the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary, small quantities of uranium are recovered; it is unclear whether there is still a small quantity being mined (a few dozen tons per year) in Romania at present.

HEALTH RISKS FROM EXPOSURES TO URANIUM

The health risks associated with exposures to uranium (including depleted uranium73) include kidney disease, respiratory disorders, DNA damage, endocrine disruption, cancers, and neurological defects.74, 75 Populations exposed to environmental uranium should be monitored for increased risk of fertility problems and reproductive cancers.76

Animal and cell studies have indicated that uranium’s health detriments are due to its affinity for DNA77 and to the potential combination of its chemical and radioactive properties, as uranium as a heavy metal has both chemical and radiological effects. It is theorized that these might play tumor-initiating and tumor-promoting roles respectively.78 The report focuses on U-238, which makes up 99.27 percent of natural uranium.

The rest is comprised of U-235 (0.72 percent) and U-234, a decay product of U-238 (0.0055 percent). Uranium in ore is invariably accompanied by U-238’s decay progeny.79 Each of the above nuclides individually is estimated to be more dangerous than the parent U-238. Together, these decay products in uranium ore contain about 14 times more radioactivity than the parent U-238.

71 IAEA 2004, “Environmental Contamination from Uranium Production Facilities and Their Remediation.”

Proceedings Of An International Workshop On Environmental Contamination From Uranium Production Facilities And Their Remediation Organized By The International Atomic Energy Agency And Held In Lisbon, 11–13 February 2004. 72 NEA and IAEA 2016, Uranium 2016: Resources, Production and Demand. NEA Report No. 7301.A, viewed 24 May 2019, https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2016/7301-uranium-2016.pdf 73 Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of uranium enrichment. It is controversial: in some countries it is used for radiation shielding and ammunition by military forces, while in others it is banned. Information about DU and its risks from a 2008 UN Institute for Disarmament Research report is available here: http://www.unidir.org/files/publications/pdfs/uranium-weapons-en-328.pdf 74 Keith, S., Faroon, O., Roney, N., Scinicariello, F., Wilbur, S., Ingerman, L., Llados, F., Plewak, D., Wohlers, D. and Diamond,

G. 2013, “Toxicological profile for uranium,” public statement by the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. 75 Wilson, J. and Thorne, M. 2015, “An assessment and comparison of the chemotoxic and radiotoxic properties of uranium compounds,” ASSIST report to RWM 76 Raymond-Whish, S., Mayer, L.P., O’Neal, T., Martinez, A., Sellers, M.A., Christian, P.J., Marion, S.L., Begay, C.,

Propper, C.R., Hoyer, P.B. and Dyer, C.A., 2007. Drinking water with uranium below the US EPA water standard causes estrogen receptor–dependent responses in female mice, Environmental health perspectives, 115(12), pp. 1711-1716. 77 Miller, A.C., Stewart, M., Brooks, K., Shi, L. and Page, N. 2002, Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant alpha particle decay, Journal of inorganic biochemistry, 91(1), pp. 246-252. 78 Miller, A.C., Brooks, K., Smith, J. and Page, N. 2004, Effect of the militarily-relevant heavy metals, depleted uranium and heavy metal tungsten-alloy on gene expression in human liver carcinoma cells (HepG2), Molecular and cellular biochemistry, 255(1-2), pp. 247-256. 79 Includes thorium-234, protactinium-234m, protactinium-234, thorium-230, radium-226, radon-222, polonium-218, actinium-218, radon-218, lead-214, bismuth-214, polonium-214, thallium-210, lead-210, bismuth-210, polonium-210, thallium-206, and finally lead-206, which is stable.