Engineering assessment of inactive uranium mill tailings, Durango Site, Durango, Colorado
Ford, Bacon and Davis Utah Inc. has reevaluated the Durango site in order to revise the November 1977 engineering assessment of the problems resulting from the existence of radioactive uranium mill tailings at Durango, Colorado. This engineering assessment has included the preparation of topographic maps, the performance of core drillings and radiometric measurements sufficient to determine areas 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 nearly 1.6 million tons of tailings at the Durango site constitutes the most significant environmental impact, although windblown tailings and external gamma radiation also are factors. The four alternative actions presented in this engineering assessment range from millsite and off-site decontamination with the addition of 3 m of stabilization cover material (Option I), to removal of the tailings to remote disposal sites and decontamination of the tailings site (Options II through IV). Cost estimates for the seven options range from about $10,700,000 for stabilization in-place, to about $21,800,000 for disposal at a distance of about 10 mi. Three principal alternatives for the reprocessing of the Durango tailings were examined: (a) heap leaching; (b) treatment at an existing mill; and (c) reprocessing at a new conventional mill constructed for tailings reprocessing. The cost of the uranium recovered would be about $30/lb U/sub 3/O/sub 8/ by either heap leach or conventional plant processes.
- Research Organization:
- Ford, Bacon and Davis Utah, Inc., Salt Lake City (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76GJ01658
- OSTI ID:
- 6218627
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/UMT-0103; FBDU-360-06; ON: DE81025611; TRN: 81-011984
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABANDONED SITES
DECONTAMINATION
RADIOMETRIC SURVEYS
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
MILL TAILINGS
STABILIZATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
COLORADO
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
MAPS
METEOROLOGY
RADIATION HAZARDS
RADON
RECOVERY
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
URANIUM OXIDES
ACTINIDE COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CLEANING
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASES
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RARE GASES
ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION
SOLID WASTES
SURVEYS
TAILINGS
URANIUM COMPOUNDS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing
052002 - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage
510301 - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Soil- (-1987)
510500 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (-1989)