Radiological Emissions and Radiation Safety Supervision of Iron and Steel Production

Iron and steel industry in China developed fast with a crude steel production of 49.5% in the world in 2014. The raw materials used in iron and steel production are iron ore, coal and limestone, which all contain low levels of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in the U and Th decay chains and ⁴⁰K. Due to high temperature in the process of sintering, coking, iron and steel making, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in ²³⁸U series volatile after reaching their melting points and boiling points, and then condense on the atmospheric particles and release with other air pollutants so as to increase the public exposure. This paper demonstrated the recent research progress of NORM emissions from iron and steel making in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and Egypt, as well as the reports from European Commission and IAEA. Sintering and iron making are the main processes that release naturally occurring radioactive materials. Some countries and organizations have developed management policies on NORM radiation. Measurements and radiological impact assessment of ²²²Rn, ²¹⁰Pb and ²¹⁰Po in stack effluents should be intensively studied.