Summary of the engineering assessment of inactive uranium mill tailings: Slick Rock sites, Slick Rock, Colorado

Technical Report · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6084605· OSTI ID:6084605

Ford, Bacon and Davis Utah, Inc., has reevaluated the Slick Rock sites in order to revise the October 1977 engineering assessment of the problems resulting from the existence of radioactive uranium mill tailings at Slick Rock, Colorado. This engineering assessment has included the preparation of topographic maps, the performance of core drillings and volumes of tailings and radiation exposures of individuals and nearby populations, the investigations of site hydrology and meteorology, and the evaluation and costing of alternative corrective actions. Radon gas released from the 387,000 tons of tailings at the Slick Rock sites constitutes the most significant environmental impact, although windblown tailings and external gamma radiation also are factors. The five alternative actions presented in this engineering assessment include millsite decontamination with the addition of 3 m of stabilization cover material, consolidation of the piles, and removal of the tailings to remote disposal sites and decontamination of the tailings sites. Cost estimates for the five options range from about $6,800,000 for stabilization in-place, to about $11,000,000 for disposal at a distance of about 6.5 mi. Three principal alternatives for the reprocessing of the Slick Rock tailings were examined: heap leaching; treatment at an existing mill; and reprocessing at a new conventional mill constructed for tailings reprocessing. The cost of the uranium recovered would be over $800/lb of U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ whether by conventional or heap leach plant processes. The spot market price for uranium was $25/lb early in 1981. Therefore, reprocessing the tailings for uranium recovery is not economically attractive at present, nor for the foreseeable future.

• Research Organization: Ford, Bacon and Davis Utah, Inc., Salt Lake City (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76GJ01658
• OSTI ID: 6084605
• Report Number(s): DOE/UMT-0115S; FBDU-360-075; ON: DE82003550
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CLEANING
COLORADO
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
DECONTAMINATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
FLUIDS
GASES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
LAND RECLAMATION
MANAGEMENT
MILL TAILINGS
MONITORING
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ORES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POPULATIONS
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADON
RARE GASES
RECOVERY
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SOLID WASTES
STABILIZATION
TAILINGS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
URANIUM ORES
URANIUM OXIDES
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES