JANUARY 1960-SUMMARY REPORT ON: I. THE CONTROL OF RADIUM AND THORIUM IN THE URANIUM MILLING INDUSTRY. II. RADIUM-226 ANALYSIS PRINCIPLES, INTERFERENCE AND PRACTICE. III. CURRENT WINCHESTER LABORATORY PROJECTS

Technical Report · Mon Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1960

OSTI ID:4188054

This report presents the present (January 1960) status of certain aspects of the radioactive pollution problems associated with uranium milling. Specifically, the physical and chemical behavior of radium and thorium in mill systems, the treatment of plant wastes, and the analytical chemistry of radium, are considered. The current research program of the Winchester Laboratory is also presented. The acid leaching process dissolves about 5% of the radium and 50% of the thorium from uranium ores, the rest remaining in the tailings. In alkaline leaching, 2 to 3% of the radium but practieally no thorium goes into solution. In untreated effluents from acid leach mills, the concentration of radium-226 will be substantially higher than the permissible levels for discharge, and the concentration of thorium-230 may also be significantly high. Proper treatment of the wastes, including neutralization and barite treatment, reduce the concentrations of these isotopes to acceptable levels. Effluents from alkaline leach processes. which contain some radium but no appreciable thorium, may be treated with copperas, followed by barite if required. The analysis of effluents and similar systems is complicated by the presence of the thorium members of the decay series. Although chemical separation steps give a radium fraction free of thorium, ingrowth of radium from a thorium parent in the period between sampling and analysis cannot be ignored. Because of the half-lives involved, the ingrowth of radium-223 from thorium-227 is particularly important. The present Winchester Laboratory program is devoted principally to the basic chemistry of radium and thorium, their behavior in plant wastes, and improvement of analytical techniques for these elements. (auth)

• Research Organization: National Lead Co., Inc. Winchester Lab., Winchester, Mass.
• NSA Number: NSA-14-010502
• OSTI ID: 4188054
• Report Number(s): WIN-112
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

ACIDS
BEHAVIOR
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
CONTAMINATION
CONTROL
HALF- LIFE
LEACHING
ORE PROCESSING
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
RADIUM
RADIUM 223
RADIUM 226
SAMPLING
THORIUM
THORIUM 227
THORIUM 230
URANIUM ORES
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTE SOLUTIONS