Resource impact evaluation of in-situ uranium groundwater restoration

Technical Report · Sun Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6743292

Charbeneau, R J; Rohlich, G A

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of restoration on the groundwater following in-situ uranium solution mining in South Texas. Restoration is necessary in order to reduce the amounts of undesired chemical constituents left in solution after mining operations have ceased, and thus return the groundwater to a quality consistent with pre-mining use and potential use. Various restoration strategies have been proposed and are discussed. Of interest are the hydrologic, environmental, social, and economic impacts of these restoration alternatives. Much of the discussion concerning groundwater restoration is based on the use of an ammonium carbonate-bicarbonate leach solution in the mining process. This has been the principal leach solution used during the early period of mining in South Texas. Recently, because of apparent difficulties in restoring ammonium to proposed or required levels, many of the companies have changed to the use of other leach solutions. Because little is known about restoration with these other leach solutions they have not been specifically addressed in this report. Likewise, we have not addressed the question of the fate of heavy metals. Following a summary of the development of South Texas in-situ mining in Chapter Two, Chapter Three describes the surface and groundwater resources of the uranium mining district. Chapter Four addresses the economics of water use, and Chapter Five is concerned with regulation of the in-situ uranium industry in Texas. A discussion of groundwater restoration alternatives and impacts is presented in Chapter Six. Chapter Seven contains a summary and a discussion, and conclusions derived from this study. Two case histories are presented in Appendices A and B.

• Research Organization: Texas Univ., Austin (USA). Center for Research in Water Resources
• OSTI ID: 6743292
• Report Number(s): CRWR-184; ON: DE83900377
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

050300 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Mining-- (-1987)
053000* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
530100 -- Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies-- Social & Economic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AMMONIUM CARBONATES
AMMONIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
DISSOLUTION
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FEDERAL REGION VI
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LEACHING
MINES
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
ORES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RESOURCES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOCIAL IMPACT
SOLUTION MINING
TEXAS
UNDERGROUND FACILITIES
URANIUM MINES
URANIUM ORES
USA
WATER
WATER QUALITY
WATER RESOURCES