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Preliminary research on the evolution laws of overburden soil structure and its radon reduction ability for uranium tailings impoundment in extreme heat and insolation conditions

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Abstract

A series of simulation experimentations are carried out on the overburden soil of the uranium tailings impoundment under the conditions of heat and insolation. The results show that: (1) The radon exhalation rate on the overburden soil of the uranium tailings impoundment increases rapidly at first and then slows down with the decrease of the moisture content. (2) The radon exhalation rate increases rapidly at first and then slows down with the increase of fractal dimension. The fitting formula of the influence of moisture content and fractal dimension on radon exhalation rate can be used to guide the radiation protection design and construction of the uranium tailings impoundment.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11875164).

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Correspondence to Yong Liu.

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Chen, Y., Lin, D., Dai, X. et al. Preliminary research on the evolution laws of overburden soil structure and its radon reduction ability for uranium tailings impoundment in extreme heat and insolation conditions. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 330, 1007–1015 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-021-08023-0

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