Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T10:49:22.138Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Application of Sphagnum Peat, Calcium Carbonate, and Hydrated Lime for Immobilizing Uranium Tailings Leachate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

P. A. Longmire ,
D. G. Brookins ,
B. M. Thomson  and
P. G. Eller
P. A. Longmire
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
D. G. Brookins
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
B. M. Thomson
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131;
P. G. Eller
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, INC-4 Group, MS 346, Los Alamos, NM 87545.
Get access

Abstract

Batch experiments, mineralogical studies, and geochemical modeling were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of sphagnum peat, calcium carbonate, and hydrated lime in removing dissolved concentrations of As, Mo, NO3, and U present in uranium-tailings pore water at Gunnison, Colorado. Amounts of As, Mo, and U removal by sphagnum peat, calcium carbonate, and hydrated lime at 5.0, 2.5, and 2.5 wt.%, respectively, were typically above 97 %. Nitrate removal ranged between 55 and 80 %. Significant contaminant removal was achieved by sphagnum peat alone at pH 3.18. Addition of 2.5 wt.% calcium carbonate to the sphagnum peat-tailings system resulted in formation of soluble uranyl carbonato complexes, which decreased the amount of U(VI) fixed onto sphagnum peat by a factor of 2. Addition of 2.5 wt.% hydrated lime to the acidic tailings increased Mo concentrations by a factor of 2 under moderately alkaline conditions (pH 12). During neutralization of tailings-pore water, precipitation of ferric oxyhydroxides may provide additional removal of As, Mo, and U(VI) from solution through adsorption and coprecipitation processes.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 212: Symposium P – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XIV , 1990 , 623
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1. DOE Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Gunnison UMTRA site (1990).Google Scholar
2. Zielinski, R. and Meier, A., Ap. Geoch. 3, 631–643, (1988).Google Scholar
3. Szalay, A., Geoch. Cosmochim. Acta 28, 1605–1614, (1964).Google Scholar
4. Idiz, E., Carlisle, D., and Kaplan, I., Ap. Geoch. 1, 573–590, (1986).Google Scholar
5. Borovec, Z., Kribek, B., and Tolar, V., Chem. Geol. 21, 39–46, (1979).Google Scholar
6. Halbach, P., Von Borstel, D., and Gundermann, K., Chem. Geol. 29, 117–138, (1980).Google Scholar
7. Nash, J., Granger, H., and Adams, S., Econ. Geol. (75 Anv), 63–116, (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Opitz, B., Sherwood, D., Dodson, M., and Seme, J., NUREG/CR-4259, USNRC, Wash. D.C. (1985).Google Scholar
9. Raymond, R. Jr, Gladney, E., Bish, D., Cohen, A., and Maestas, L. Geol. Soc. Am. Special Publication No. 248, 1–12, (1990).Google Scholar
10. Mathur, S. and Farnham, R. in Humic Substances in Soil. Sediment, and Water, edited by Aiken, G., McKnight, D., and Wershaw, R. (Wiley Interscience, 1985) pp. 53–85.Google Scholar
11. Merritt, R., The Extractive Metallurgy of Uranium. (Colorado School of Mines Research Institute, Golden, CO, 1971).Google Scholar
12. Parkhurst, D., Thorstenson, D., and Plummer, L., USGS Report No. USGS WRI 80–96, 1980.Google Scholar
13. Noronha, C. and Pearson, F., INTERA Inc. Houston, TX. (1983)Google Scholar
14. Brookins, D., Eh-pH Diagrams for Geochemistry, (Springer-Verlag, NY, 1988).Google Scholar
15. Kribek, B. and Podlaha, J., Org. Geochem. 2, 93–97, (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Stevenson, F., Humus Chemistry, (Wiley Interscience, NY, 1982).Google Scholar
17. Thurman, E., Organic Geochemistry of Natural Waters. Martinus Nijhoff/ Dr. W. Junk Pubs., Dordrecht, The Netherlands, (1985).Google Scholar
18. Shanbhag, P. and Choppin, G., J. Inorg. Nucl. Chem. 43., 3369–3372, (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Koglin, E., Schenk, H., and Schwochau, K., Appl. Spectroscopy, 32, 486–488 (1978).Google Scholar
20. Stumm, W. and Morgan, J., Aquatic Chemistry. (Wiley Interscience, NY, 1981).Google Scholar
21. Hingston, F., Posner, A., Quirk, J., J. Soil Sci. 23, 177–192 (1972).Google Scholar