Monitoring And Surveillance Of Residues From The Mining And Milling Of Uranium And Thorium

The conventional mining and processing of uranium and thorium ore generates large amounts of waste. This report contains technical information on the development of an effective monitoring and surveillance programme for residues of radioactive ores. Issued considered include: modes of potential release of contaminants from mill tailings and mine waste; initial environmental surveys; monitoring and surveillance programmes; reporting; and quality assurance.

This publication is a revision of IAEA Safety Series No. 43, originally issued in 1976. The revised version has been limited in coverage to radiation monitoring and medical surveillance.

This publication is an update of IAEA Safety Series No. 44, published in 1976, necessitated by a number of developments in the technical and regulatory aspects of the management of wastes resulting from the mining and milling of uranium and thorium ores. It consists of a Code of Practice and a Guide to the Code.

Nuclear sites become contaminated with radionuclides due to accidents and activities carried out without due consideration for the environment. Naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM) released by industrial processes such as coal power production and fertilizer manufacture may also require clean-up. Environmental remediation and restoration aim to reduce exposure to radiation from contaminated soil or groundwater. This book provides a comprehensive overview of this area. Part 1 provides an introduction to the different types of contaminated site and their characteristics. Part 2 addresses environmental restoration frameworks and processes. Part 3 then reviews different remediation techniques and methods of waste disposal. Explores types and characteristics of contaminated nuclear and NORM sites Provides an in depth guide to environmental restoration frameworks and processes including stakeholder involvement, risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis in the remediation and restoration of contaminated nuclear and NORM sites Offers coverage of remediation techniques and waste disposal from electrokinetic remediation to in situ and ex situ bioremediation of radionuclides contaminated soils

This book is the collection of papers from the latest International Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology Conference (UMH VII) held in September 2014, in Freiberg, Germany. It is divided to five sessions: Uranium Mining, Uranium and Phosphates, Clean-up technologies for water and soil. Uranium and daughter nuclides and basic research and modeling. Each session covers a wide range of related topic and provides readers with up to date research and solutions on those matters.

The legacies of past uranium mining and milling continue to be of concern and require assessment and remedial action. This problem has been recognized in many parts of the world over the past three decades, but has received increased attention since the end of the Cold War. Considerable effort and resources have been expended in dealing with this legacy. However, it has to be noted that the search for uranium has covered almost all countries on the globe. The result in some countries is a legacy of numerous small scale mines and mills. For economic and other reasons, including less stringent environmental standards and awareness at the time, these operations may not have been properly closed out and made safe. The remediation strategies and techniques developed by major problem holders, such as the USA or Germany, often would be out of scale for the problems in other countries. Therefore an international workshop was organized in Lisbon from 11 to 13 February 2004 as a forum for the exchange of views and experiences of countries with smaller scale uranium mining legacies.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on the establishment of an appropriate regulatory framework for the management of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) residues in an integrated manner and using a graded approach. It also elaborates on roles and responsibilities, options for management of NORM residues, long term safety of NORM residues, and exemption and clearance. The publication is targeted at regulatory bodies, operating organizations, technical support organizations and other parties who are interested and involved in management of NORM residues.

Uranium is an element to be found ubiquitous in rock, soil, and water. Uranium concentrations in natural ground water can be more than several hundreds μg/l without impact from mining, nuclear industry, and fertilizers. Considering the WHO recommendation for drinking water of 15 μg/l (has been as low as 2 μg/l before) due to the chemical toxicity of uranium the element uranium has become an important issue in environmental research. Besides natural enrichment of uranium in aquifers uranium mining and milling activities, further uranium processing to nuclear fuel, emissions form burning coal and oil, and the application of uranium containing phosphate fertilizers may enrich the natural uranium concentrations in soil and water by far. In October 1995 the first international conference on Uranium Mining and Hydrogeology (UMH I) was held in Freiberg being organized by the Department of Geology at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg by the support of the Saxon State Ministry of Geology and Environment. Due to the large scientific interest in the topic of uranium a second conference (UMH II) took place in Freiberg in September 1998. Furthermore, in September 2002 scientists working on the topic of uranium mining and hydrogeology attended the third conference (UMH III) which was jointly held together with the International Mine Water - sociation (IMWA) Symposium 2002. The reviewed papers and posters of the 2002 conference have been published by Springer entitled Uranium in the aquatic en- ronment (edited by Merkel, Planer-Friedrich and Wolkersdorfer).