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Radiological Impacts and Regulation of Rare Earth Elements in Non-Nuclear Energy Production

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy Ault

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, 2301 Vanderbilt Place PMB 351831, Nashville, TN 37235-1826, USA)

  • Steven Krahn

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, 2301 Vanderbilt Place PMB 351831, Nashville, TN 37235-1826, USA)

  • Allen Croff

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, 2301 Vanderbilt Place PMB 351831, Nashville, TN 37235-1826, USA)

Abstract

Energy industries account for a significant portion of total rare earth usage, both in the US and worldwide. Rare earth minerals are frequently collocated with naturally occurring radioactive material, imparting an occupational radiological dose during recovery. This paper explores the extent to which rare earths are used by various non-nuclear energy industries and estimates the radiological dose which can be attributed to these industries on absolute and normalized scales. It was determined that typical rare earth mining results in an occupational collective dose of approximately 0.0061 person-mSv/t rare earth elements, amounting to a total of 330 person-mSv/year across all non-nuclear energy industries (about 60% of the annual collective dose from one pressurized water reactor operated in the US, although for rare earth mining the impact is spread out over many more workers). About half of the collective dose from non-nuclear energy production results from use of fuel cracking catalysts for oil refining, although given the extent of the oil industry, it is a small dose when normalized to the energy equivalent of the oil that is used annually. Another factor in energy industries’ reliance on rare earths is the complicated state of the regulation of naturally occurring radiological materials; correspondingly, this paper also explores regulatory and management implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Ault & Steven Krahn & Allen Croff, 2015. "Radiological Impacts and Regulation of Rare Earth Elements in Non-Nuclear Energy Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-16, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:8:y:2015:i:3:p:2066-2081:d:46793
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Park, Sulgiye & Tracy, Cameron L. & Ewing, Rodney C., 2023. "Reimagining US rare earth production: Domestic failures and the decline of US rare earth production dominance – Lessons learned and recommendations," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    2. Ridoan Karim & Firdaus Muhammad-Sukki & Mohammad Ershadul Karim & Abu Bakar Munir & Imtiaz Mohammad Sifat & Siti Hawa Abu-Bakar & Nurul Aini Bani & Mohd Nabil Muhtazaruddin, 2018. "Legal and Regulatory Development of Nuclear Energy in Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-18, October.
    3. Hamza El Azhari & El Khalil Cherif & Rachid El Halimi & El Mustapha Azzirgue & Yassine Ou Larbi & Franco Coren & Farida Salmoun, 2024. "Predicting the Production and Depletion of Rare Earth Elements and Their Influence on Energy Sector Sustainability through the Utilization of Multilevel Linear Prediction Mixed-Effects Models with R S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-32, February.
    4. Rahmat, Muhammad Abdullah & Ismail, Aznan Fazli & Aziman, Eli Syafiqah & Rodzi, Nursyamimi Diyana & Mohamed, Faizal & Abdul Rahman, Irman, 2022. "The impact of unregulated industrial tin-tailing processing in Malaysia: Past, present and way forward," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Filip Jędrzejek & Katarzyna Szarłowicz & Marcin Stobiński, 2022. "A Geological Context in Radiation Risk Assessment to the Public," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-19, September.
    6. Vladimir Prakht & Vladimir Dmitrievskii & Vadim Kazakbaev, 2020. "Optimal Design of Gearless Flux-Switching Generator with Ferrite Permanent Magnets," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-14, February.

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