Safety Guidelines for Uranium Exploration

These are general guidelines for uranium exploration; please note that there is a ban on registration of uranium and thorium mineral claims in British Columbia.

Click here for more information of uranium exploration, development and mining.  

The basic guidelines for any uranium exploration program include:
 

• Minimize time handling radioactive material
• Maximize distance from radioactive material
• Wash hands regularly
• Wear personal protective equipment
• Don’t wear work clothes in non-work settings (kitchen tent, sleep tent, etc.)
   

The following specific safety measures should always be considered:
 

• Wear gloves, such as cotton gloves, when handling soil, silt, or rock or taking chip samples
• Wash hands, hair daily and clothes regularly
• Do not lick any rock
• Bandage open wounds.
• Wash hands after handling rock and before eating or smoking
• Do not eat, drink, or smoke in the vicinity of areas with elevated radiation levels
• When working with drill core, coveralls, rubber gloves, and safety glasses must be worn at  all times.  Boot covers may also be necessary
• Safety glasses are mandatory when working with drill core to protect the eyes from beta  radiation.
• A dust mask may be necessary when core splitting
• Reduce dust by wetting the area with water on a regular basis
• Check field clothes with contamination meter periodically. Rinse clothes at site if reading is greater than 600
• CPM and continue rinsing until readings fall below the acceptable level
• Always work in well-ventilated environment, monitor work areas on a regular basis with contamination meters
• Control the spread of contamination at all times by following field protocols
• TLDs (thermoluminescent radiation dosimeters) must be worn by all field workers.