Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite

Phillips, D. H.; Watson, D. B.

doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.046

Title: Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite

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Abstract

The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the distribution of U and Th in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite, and (2) the removal of uranium from acidic groundwater by dolomitic gravel through precipitation with amorphous basaluminite at the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Integrated Field Research Challenge (ORIFRC) field site west of the Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex in East Tennessee. Media reactivity and sustainability are a technical concern with the deployment of any subsurface reactive media. Because the gravel was placed in the subsurface and exposed to contaminated groundwater for over 20 years, it provided a unique opportunity to study the solid and water phase geochemical conditions within the media after this length of exposure. This study illustrates that dolomite gravel can remove U from acidic contaminated groundwater with high levels of Al³⁺, Ca²⁺, NO^3-, and SO₄^2- over the long term. As the groundwater flows through high pH carbonate gravel, U containing amorphous basaluminite precipitates as the pH increases. This is due to an increase in groundwater pH from 3.2 to ~6.5 as it comes in contact with the gravel. Therefore, carbonate gravel could be considered as a possible treatment medium for removal and sequestration ofUandmore »« less

Authors:

Phillips, D. H. ^[1]; Watson, D. B. ^[2]

Queen's Univ., Belfast, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Publication Date:: Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2014

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)

OSTI Identifier:: 1408665

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1249570

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Journal of Hazardous Materials

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 285; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0304-3894

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

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                    Phillips, D. H., and Watson, D. B. Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite.  United States: N. p., 2014. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.046.

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                    Phillips, D. H., & Watson, D. B. Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.046

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                    Phillips, D. H., and Watson, D. B. Fri .  
"Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.046.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1408665.

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@article{osti_1408665,

  title        = {Distribution of uranium and thorium in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite},

  author       = {Phillips, D. H. and Watson, D. B.},

  abstractNote = {The objectives of this study were to examine (1) the distribution of U and Th in dolomitic gravel fill and shale saprolite, and (2) the removal of uranium from acidic groundwater by dolomitic gravel through precipitation with amorphous basaluminite at the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Integrated Field Research Challenge (ORIFRC) field site west of the Oak Ridge Y-12 National Security Complex in East Tennessee. Media reactivity and sustainability are a technical concern with the deployment of any subsurface reactive media. Because the gravel was placed in the subsurface and exposed to contaminated groundwater for over 20 years, it provided a unique opportunity to study the solid and water phase geochemical conditions within the media after this length of exposure. This study illustrates that dolomite gravel can remove U from acidic contaminated groundwater with high levels of Al3+, Ca2+, NO3-, and SO42- over the long term. As the groundwater flows through high pH carbonate gravel, U containing amorphous basaluminite precipitates as the pH increases. This is due to an increase in groundwater pH from 3.2 to ~6.5 as it comes in contact with the gravel. Therefore, carbonate gravel could be considered as a possible treatment medium for removal and sequestration ofUand otherpHsensitive metals from acidic contaminated groundwater. Thorium concentrations are also high in the carbonate gravel. Thorium generally shows an inverse relationship with U from the surface down into the deeper saprolite. Barite precipitated in the shallow saprolite directly below the dolomitic gravel from barium present in the acidic contaminated groundwater.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.11.046},

  journal      = {Journal of Hazardous Materials},

  number       = C,

  volume       = 285,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2014},

  month        = {Fri Dec 05 00:00:00 EST 2014}

}

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