Uranium in the aquatic environment proceedings of the International Conference Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology III and the International Mine Water Association Symposium Freiberg, Germany, 15 - 21 September 2002 ; with 151 tables and a CD-ROM

Preface Uranium is a radioactive element and a heavy metal which is naturally occurring in ground and surface water. Although uranium is enriched in granites and gneiss ground water from these host rocks often shows low to intermediate uranium con­ centrations, while some ground waters from sandstone and carbonate aquifers show elevated uranium concentrations up to several hundred mg/1 without man made impact. On the other side, surface water contains increased anthropogenic uranium concentrations due to the intensive use of phosphate fertilizers and in mining areas due to mining and milling activities. Saxony and Thuringia both be­ ing states of the reunified Germany are probably an area where uranium mining activities have impacted the environment more severely than in any other part of the world. Thus, the federal government of Germany allocated huge amounts of money for the rehabilitation work, a unique proceeding without precedent in min­ ing history. In October 1995 the first international conference on Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology (UMM I) was held in Freiberg being organized by the Department of Geology at the technical University Freiberg by the support of the Saxon State Ministry of Geology and Environment. Due to the large scientific interest in the topic ofuranium a second conference (UMH II) took place in Freiberg in Septem­ ber 1998. Front Matter....Pages I-XXI Dose Limits and Maximum Concentration Limits (MCL’s) for Radionuclides - Implication on Remediation of Uranium Mining and Milling Facilities in Saxony, Germany....Pages 1-7 Remediation oriented use of conceptual site models at WISMUT GmbH: Rehabilitation of the Trünzig tailings management area....Pages 9-24 Deep mine hydrogeology after closure: insights from the UK....Pages 25-40 Strategy Concept Elbe....Pages 41-47 Environmental hydrogeology of in situ leach uranium mining in Australia....Pages 49-58 Reliance on existing wetlands for pollution control around the Witwatersrand gold/uranium mines of South Africa - Are they sufficient?....Pages 59-64 Radon, water and abandoned metalliferous mines in the UK: Environmental and Human Health implications....Pages 65-76 Physico-chemical surface water conditions of catchments with metallogenic origin: A contribution to the establishment of the EC Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EG in Germany....Pages 77-84 Radionuclides in underground water in an area contaminated with uranium mill waste....Pages 85-92 Impact of Uranium Mining and Processing on the Environment of Mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan....Pages 93-98 Uranium content in ground water in Stara Planina Triassic sediments....Pages 99-106 Contaminant transport from proposed Jabiluka mine uranium tailings paste repositories - 10 000 year dispersion and dilution analysis....Pages 107-114 Natural Uranium Fluxes and their Use in Repository Safety Assessment....Pages 115-126 Long Term Safety of the Asse Salt Mine....Pages 127-132 Risk Assessment for Underground Disposal of Radioactive Wastes in Clay Strata....Pages 133-138 Uranium Migration in Argillaceous Sediments as Analogue for Transport Processes in the Far Field of Repositories (Heselbach Site, Germany)....Pages 139-146 Translating natural concentrations and fluxes into safety indicators for radioactive waste repositories....Pages 147-154 Evaluation of the long-term durability of engineered dry covers for mining wastes, and consideration of associated design constraints....Pages 155-164 Hydrology of Engineered Covers of Waste Rock Dumps towards Heavy Rainfall Phenomena: A Case Study in Uranium Mill Tailings Mitigation....Pages 165-172 Hard pan formation on mining residuals....Pages 173-182 Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Fluid Leaching (SFL) of Uranium from Solid Wastes Using HNO3-tributylphosphate (TBP) Complex as a Reactant....Pages 183-187 Release behaviour of radionuclides from contaminated concrete materials....Pages 189-196 Solubility of an uranium(IV) amorphous phase under geochemical conditions representative for the direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel in Boom Clay....Pages 197-206 Uranium migration in argillaceous sediments as analogue for transport processes in the far field of repositories (Ruprechtov site, Czech Republic)....Pages 207-216 Groundwater flow systems and the export of uranium from nuclear waste repositories to the biosphere....Pages 217-226 Natural U occurrences as a palaeo-hydrogeological indicator — observations from the Palmottu natural analogue site, Finland....Pages 227-236 Calculation of radioactive field in nuclear accident contaminated area from data acquired in aerial survey....Pages 237-246 Experimental large diameter well in the clays for radioactive waste Repository....Pages 247-254 Redox processes in uranium deposits — Lessons from Natural Analogue Studies....Pages 255-262 Flooding of the Königstein uranium mine — Aquifer reactivity versus dilution....Pages 263-272 Numerical simulation of uranium transport in flooded underground mines....Pages 273-282 Stream pollution by adjacent tailing deposits and fluvial transport of dissolved uranium - dynamics and mechanisms investigated in mining areas of Germany, Southern Africa and Australia....Pages 283-292 Mobilities of uranium species in sedimentary interbed from the Snake River Plain....Pages 293-302 A 3-D numerical modeling of reactive transport of U(VI) in shallow groundwaters: a case study at a uranium mill tailing site in southern China....Pages 303-310 Flooding of the deep uranium mine Hamr I by free water from tailings pond....Pages 311-318 Application of numerical simulation system on Turonian aquifer remediation control....Pages 319-326 Factors controlling migration and concentration of natural and technogenic radionuclides in bottom sediments of the Eastern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea....Pages 327-332 Geochemical processes related to uranium mobilisation on groundwaters in a restored uranium mine....Pages 333-342 Uncertainties in Chemical Calculations....Pages 343-350 The Role of Metrology and Statistics in Making Geochemical Modeling Defensible....Pages 351-358 The Influence of Geostatistical Data on the Reliability of the Meshless Method in Transport Modeling....Pages 359-368 Complex Formation of Uranium(IV) with Phosphate and Arsenate....Pages 369-376 Hyphenated techniques for speciation of Uranium and other actinides....Pages 377-384 Raman microspectrometric investigations of U02 alteration products: Natural analogues to alpha radiolysis effects....Pages 385-394 Sorption of Uranium(VI) onto Schwertmannite - EXAFS investigations....Pages 395-398 Colloid-borne Uranium in Mine Waters....Pages 399-406 Contaminant Release and Carbonate Availability of Sulphide-Bearing Waste Rock derived from Long-term Column Tests....Pages 407-416 Separation of Uranium from Aqueous Solution by Textile Bound Calixarenes....Pages 417-424 The Effect of Chlorite Dissolution on the Sorption Behavior of U(VI)....Pages 425-430 Major Factors of Processes Forming Uranium Ore in Exogenetic Epigenetic Deposits of the Chu-Sarysu Province (Southern Kazakhstan)....Pages 431-435 Microbially mediated reduction and immobilization of uranium in groundwater....Pages 437-446 Microbial Transformations of Uranium Complexed with Organic and Inorganic Ligands....Pages 447-454 Bacterial communities in uranium mining waste piles and their interaction with heavy metals....Pages 455-464 Phytoextraction for clean-up of low-level uranium contaminated soil evaluated....Pages 465-470 Long-term differences in transfer and accumulation of potentially toxic trace elements and radionuclides in trees on uranium mining dumps (Erzgebirge, Germany)....Pages 471-478 Uranium and thorium uptake on hydrophilic plants....Pages 479-488 Soil formation and quality on uranium mining dumps depending on different tree species under special consideration of selected radionuclide contamination....Pages 489-494 Ecosystem restoration incorporating minerotrophic ecology and Stoneworts that accumulate 226 Ra....Pages 495-504 Characterization of uranium (VI) complexes formed by different bacteria relevant to uranium mining waste piles....Pages 505-512 Uranium speciation in plants....Pages 513-520 Mobilization of hazardous metals by plants growing in soils from uranium mining....Pages 521-528 Mobility and plant availability of heavy metals in soils of uranium mining dumps....Pages 529-536 Complex Formation of Uranium(VI) with Glucose 1-Phosphate....Pages 537-540 Performance report on the operations of a pilot plant for the treatment of vanadium in ground water—New Rifle UMTRA Site, Rifle, Colorado, USA....Pages 541-552 Inter-disciplinary studies of the impact of gold and uranium mining in the Witwatersrand Goldfield....Pages 553-560 Removal of uranium and arsenic from groundwater using six different reactive materials: assessment of removal efficiency....Pages 561-568 Processes in passive mine water remediation with zero-valent iron and lignite as reactive materials....Pages 569-576 Mechanism of Uranium Fixation by Zero Valent Iron: The Importance of Co-precipitation....Pages 577-586 Ecological water treatment processes for underground uranium mine water: Progress after three years of operating a constructed wetland....Pages 587-596 Long-term Stability and Resilience of Passive Mine Water Treatment Facilities: A Joint Experimental and Simulation Approach....Pages 597-604 Retention of Radionuclides and Arsenic by Algae Downstream of U mining Tailings....Pages 605-614 Bacterial-based bioremediation of uranium mining waste waters by using sol-gel ceramics....Pages 615-622 Uranium attenuation from tailing waters by floating macrophyte Lemna gibba L.....Pages 623-630 Exploring the potential for natural attenuation to ground water cleanup goals at select former uranium mill tailings sites in the western United States....Pages 631-644 Changing standards and continuous improvement: A history of uranium mine rehabilitation in northern Australia....Pages 645-652 A New Approach to Water Management and Pollution Control at Rössing Uranium Mine....Pages 653-658 Application of a Dry Cover to Remediate the Acid Rock Drainage Generation in the Uranium Mining and Milling Site of Poços de Caldas - Brazil....Pages 659-666 Groundwater rebound compatible with the aquatic environment — technical solutions at WISMUT’s Ronneburg mine....Pages 667-676 Water protection by long-term efficient surface contouring and covering of uranium mining dumps and tailings ponds -results of ten years of research and develop....Pages 677-684 Delineation of contamination flows produced by acid mine drainage in a former uranium mining site (Ronneburg, Eastern Thuringia, Germany) by the use of rare earth elements as tracers....Pages 685-692 Using acid rock drainage (ARD) of an uranium mining dump as tracer in surface and groundwater: Case study at the Ronneburg uranium mining site....Pages 693-698 Environmental Impact of Uranium ISL in Northern Bohemia....Pages 699-708 Environmental Issues and Remedial Actions of the Abandoned Linchang Uranium Mine in China....Pages 709-718 Water balance and hydrogeological modeling in the case of the TPF Rozna/ Czech Republic....Pages 719-726 Rehabilitation of the Nabarlek uranium mine - Will close out ever be achieved?....Pages 727-736 Restoration status of the first abandoned uranium mine in Brazil....Pages 737-744 Flooding of the WISMUT mines - learning by doing or applying a comprehensive systematic approach ?....Pages 745-754 Flooding of the Königstein mine up to 80 m above sea level — Prediction and Reality....Pages 755-762 Uranium Removal from Flood Water at Königstein Mine....Pages 763-768 Characterisation of final mine flooding at the Schlema-Alberoda site of WISMUT GmbH with particular emphasis on flooding water quality evolution....Pages 769-774 Four years of flooding WISMUT’s Ronneburg uranium mine — a status report....Pages 775-784 Flood Water Treatment by Improved HDS Technology....Pages 785-792 Optimizing the remediation of the subsurface environment in the Stráž deposit....Pages 793-802 Uranium contamination of streams by tailings deposits — case studies in the Witwatersrand gold mining area (South Africa)....Pages 803-812 An IAEA Co-Ordinated Research Project (CRP) on Technologies and Methods for Long-Term Stabilization and Isolation of Uranium Mill Tailings....Pages 813-819 Mailuu-Suu Tailings problems and options for remediation....Pages 821-830 Uranium mill tailings in the Pine Creek Geosyncline, northern Australia : past, present and future hydrogeological impacts....Pages 831-840 Radioactive Contaminant Transport of Aue Mine Dump 371: A Hydrogeochemical and Isotopic Case Study....Pages 841-846 Distribution of heavy elements and radionuclides on small uranium mining dumps after decades of soil development....Pages 847-852 Natural attenuation in a wetland under unfavorable conditions - Uranium tailing Schneckenstein / Germany....Pages 853-860 Remediation of uranium milling site Lengenfeld/ Vogtland, needs and objectives....Pages 861-870 Hydrogeochemical characterisation of surface water, sorption of metal(loid)s on sediments and exchange processes within the wetland Lengenfeld / Germany....Pages 871-880 Environmental Risk Management at Uranium Tailings Ponds in Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan....Pages 881-888 The nature and extent of uranium contamination from tailings dams in the Witwatersrand gold mining area (South Africa)....Pages 889-898 Experience on application of continuous drain trench during the remediation of tailings ponds in Hungary....Pages 899-906 Methodology to assess the radiological impact of a repository for uranium mill tailings after remediation (short-term impact)....Pages 907-914 A radiation dose estimate for visitors of the South Alligator River valley, Australia, from remnants of uranium mining and milling activities....Pages 915-924 Infiltration to Groundwater at High Altitude....Pages 925-932 Reliability of rainfall intensity prediction method for mine dewatering design in tropical region....Pages 933-940 Chances and risks of the geothermal use of mine water in Schlema / Saxony....Pages 941-944 Regional Heat Flow: An Aid to Geothermal Exploration in Chattisgarh, India....Pages 945-950 Rare Earth Elements (REEs) as Natural Tracers in Mine Waters....Pages 951-958 Infiltration water dating from tritium measurements in mining dumps: methodic specifics and case study....Pages 959-966 Gamma-natural radiation field in Mesozoic rocks and in Uranium-bearing Phosphate Mineralization of the Ionian zone, Albania.....Pages 967-972 Gases released by water: impact on underground mines and on the surface....Pages 973-984 Some Experiences with Modelling Water Quality of Post-Mining-Lakes in East Germany....Pages 985-992 Natural processes caused by soil resaturation in the Patnow open-pit cone of depression....Pages 993-1001 Operational and treatment performance of an unique Reducing and Alkalinity Producing System (RAPS) for acidic leachate remediation in Lancashire, UK.....Pages 1003-1010 Mine Water Recovery in the Coal Mining District of Aachen - Impacts and Measures to Control Potential Risks....Pages 1011-1020 Flooding and Post-flooding Scenarios -Dynamics and Geochemistry....Pages 1021-1028 Groundwater contamination in the area of Zn-Pb ore mines situated in the southern part of the Olkusz-Zawiercie Triassic aquifer (Poland)....Pages 1029-1036 Arsenic contamination of natural origin in stream sediments of Lake Mulargia Reservoir, Southern Sardinia....Pages 1037-1045 Arsenic Rich Waste Rock Disposal under Subaqueous and Anoxic Conditions....Pages 1047-1056 Mobilisation of trace elements from an epithermal high sulphidation mineralization in the sediments of Sa Forada artificial lake. South-Sardinia, Italy....Pages 1057-1064 Impact of ore deposits and anthropogenic activities on local hydrochemistry at “Silberberg”, S-Germany....Pages 1065-1074 Quantitative analysis of supply from anthropogenic sources to mine workings of closed zinc-lead ore mines in the Bytom Trough (southern Poland)....Pages 1075-1082 Influence of chemical reactions on the flow system and contaminant transport in a former salt mine....Pages 1083-1092 Environmental control made in fifty three opencast mines of the Basque country: attention to acoustic and water contamination.....Pages 1093-1100 Investigations into seepage water acidification of a tailing dam of the tin ore processing....Pages 1101-1108 Back Matter....Pages 1109-1112 This book addresses scientists and engineers involved in the areas of uranium mining and milling sites, clean-up measures, emissions of nuclear power plants and radioactive waste disposal, as well as political decision-makers. The topics covered are: impact on groundwater from radionuclide emission, analytical speciation techniques, chemical toxicity, radioisotope plant uptake, microbiology catalyzing U(6+) to U(4+) reduction, geochemical and reactive transport, case studies on abandoned uranium mines and milling sites, long-term storage of radioactive waste, passive in situ treatment techniques and risk assessment studies.