Study of the oxidation state of arsenic and uranium in individual particles from uranium mine tailings, Hungary
- Hungarian Academy of Science, KFKI, Atomic Energy Research Institute, P. O. Box 49, H-1525 Budapest (Hungary)
- Chemical Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pusztaszeri ut 59-67, H-1025 Budapest (Hungary)
- Mecsek Ore Environment, H-7614 Pecs, P.O. Box 121 (Hungary)
- Forschungsgruppe Synchrotronstrahlung, Research Centre, D-76021 Karlshruhe (Germany)
- Hamburger Synchrotronstralungslabor (HASYLAB) at Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg (Germany)
Uranium ore mining and milling have been terminated in the Mecsek Mountains (southwest Hungary) in 1997. Mine tailings ponds are located between two important water bases, which are resources of the drinking water of the city of Pecs and the neighbouring villages. The average U concentration of the tailings material is 71.73 {mu}g/g, but it is inhomogeneous. Some microscopic particles contain orders of magnitude more U than the rest of the tailings material. Other potentially toxic elements are As and Pb of which chemical state is important to estimate mobility, because in mobile form they can risk the water basis and the public health. Individual U-rich particles were selected with solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) and after localisation the particles were investigated by synchrotron radiation based microanalytical techniques. The distribution of elements over the particles was studied by micro beam X-ray fluorescence ({mu}-XRF) and the oxidation state of uranium and arsenic was determined by micro X-ray absorption near edge structure ({mu}-XANES) spectroscopy. Some of the measured U-rich particles were chosen for studying the heterogeneity with {mu}-XRF tomography. Arsenic was present mainly in As(V) and uranium in U(VI) form in the original uranium ore particles, but in the mine tailings samples uranium was present mainly in the less mobile U(IV) form. Correlation was found between the oxidation state of As and U in the same analyzed particles. These results suggest that dissolution of uranium is not expected in short term period. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Three Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5990 (United States); Technological Institute of the Royal Flemish Society of Engineers (TI-K VIV), Het Ingenieurshuis, Desguinlei 214, 2018 Antwerp (Belgium); Belgian Nuclear Society (BNS) - ASBL-VZW, c/o SCK-CEN, Avenue Hermann Debrouxlaan, 40 - B-1160 Brussels (Belgium)
- OSTI ID:
- 21156464
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICEM'07: 11. International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management, Bruges (Belgium), 2-6 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; 20 refs.; Proceedings may be ordered from ASME Order Department, 22 Law Drive, P.O. Box 2300, Fairfield, NJ 07007-2300 (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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