Exposures at work to ionising radiation due to the use of naturally occurring radioactive materials in industrial processes

In its role as specialist radiation protection adviser to industries in the United Kingdom, the National Radiological Protection Board has had extensive involvement with industrial users of raw materials with low activity concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides. The magnitude of the exposure to ionising radiation in these establishments has been investigated. This paper reviews the pathways of exposure and gives estimates of worker dose in the light of revised dose coefficients. It concludes that doses are lower than previously reported and are generally in the order of a few millisieverts per year or less.