Comparative evaluation of liner materials for inactive uranium-mill-tailings piles

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6122908

Buelt, J L; Barnes, S M

Under the funding of the Department of Energy's Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Program, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) has completed the initial accelerated testing phase of eight candidate liner materials. The tests were designed to comparatively evaluate the long term effectiveness of liner materials as a radionuclide and hazardous chemical leachate barrier. The eight materials tested were selected from a technical review of published literature and industrial specialists. Conditions were then identified that would accelerate the aging processes expected in a uranium tailings environment for 1000 years. High calcium leachates were forced through thin layers of clay liners to accelerate the ion exchange rate of sodium and calcium. Asphalt and synthetic materials were accelerated by exposure to elevate temperatures, high concentrations of oxygen, and increased strengths of aqueous oxidizing agents. By comparing the changes of permeability with time of exposure, the most acceptable materials were then identified. These materials are a catalytically airblown asphalt membrane and natural soil amended with sodium bentonite. Both materials showed an increased resistance to leachate penetration throughout the exposure period with final permeabilities less than 10/sup -7/ cm/s. In addition, the asphalt membrane and sodium bentonite are among the least expensive materials to install at a disposal site. Therefore based on their economic and technical merits, these two materials are being evaluated further in field tests at Grand Junction, Colorado.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6122908
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-9761; CONF-811049-7; ON: DE82003861
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050400 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Feed Processing
052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
ASPHALTS
BENTONITE
BITUMENS
CALCIUM IONS
CHARGED PARTICLES
CLAYS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CONTAINMENT
DISSOLUTION
ELEMENTS
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
ION EXCHANGE
IONS
LEACHING
LINERS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MEMBRANES
METALS
MILL TAILINGS
MINERALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN
PERFORMANCE TESTING
PERMEABILITY
POLYMERS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SODIUM IONS
SOILS
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
TAR
TESTING
URANIUM
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES