Phosphate Barriers for Immobilization of Uranium Plumes
Uranium contamination of the subsurface remains a persistent problem plaguing remedial design at sites across the U.S. that were involved with production, handling, storage, milling, and reprocessing of uranium for both civilian and defense related purposes. Remediation efforts to date have relied upon excavation, pump-and-treat, or passive remediation barriers (PRB?s) to remove or attenuate uranium mobility. Documented cases convincingly demonstrate that excavation and pump-and-treat methods are ineffective for a number of highly contaminated sites. There is growing concern that use of conventional PRB?s, such as zero-valent iron, may be a temporary solution to a problem that will persist for thousands of years. Alternatives to the standard treatment methods are therefore warranted. The core objective of our research is to demonstrate that a phosphorus amendment strategy will result in a reduction of dissolved uranium to below the proposed drinking water standard. Our hypothesis is that long-chain sodium polyphosphate compounds forestall precipitation of sparingly soluble uranyl phosphate compounds, which is paramount to preventing fouling of wells at the point of injection.
- Research Organization:
- University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG07-02ER63489
- OSTI ID:
- 885261
- Report Number(s):
- EMSP-86740-2004; R&D Project: EMSP 86740; TRN: US0603832
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Phosphate Barriers for Immobilization of Uranium Plumes
Phosphate Barriers for Immobilization of Uranium Plumes
Related Subjects
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES, AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
CONTAMINATION
DRINKING WATER
EXCAVATION
FOULING
HYPOTHESIS
IRON
MILLING
PHOSPHATES
PHOSPHORUS
PLUMES
PRECIPITATION
REPROCESSING
SODIUM
STORAGE
URANIUM
URANYL PHOSPHATES