Abstract
During excavation of the uranium mill tailings pile in Moab, Utah. Free pore fluids were encountered with a pH as low as 2.5. The fluids began flowing from intercepted wick drains that were installed in 1998. Fluids were allowed to flow to temporary ponds prior to pumping to a 1.6 ha (4 ac) evaporation pond located on top of the tailings pile. Special precautions were taken to blend the low pH water to an acceptable level for spreading on top of the tailings pile to evaporate.
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References
Canonie Environmental Services Corp (1994) Atlas Corporation Ground Water Corrective Action Plan, Uranium Mill and Tailings Disposal Area. July, 1994
Department of Energy (2010a) Moab UMTRA Project April 2010 Validation Data Package for the Routine Ground Water and Surface Water Sampling Event. Office of Environmental Management, July 2010, DOE-EM/GJTAC1917
Department of Energy (2010b) Moab UMTRA Project June 2010 Validation Data Package for Performance Assessment of the Monthly Sampling for the Ground Water Interim Action and Excavation Seep Sampling Events. September 2010, DOE-EM/GJTAC1937
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1999) Final Environmental Impact Statement Related to Reclamation of the Uranium Mill Tailings at the Atlas Site, Moab, Utah. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, March 1999, NUREG-1531
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Metzler, D., Ritchey, J. (2011). Safe Handling of Low pH Mill Tailings Pore Fluids Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project. In: Merkel, B., Schipek, M. (eds) The New Uranium Mining Boom. Springer Geology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22122-4_44
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22122-4_44
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-22121-7
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