The environmental impacts of uranium mining include the traditional impacts associated with gold or copper mining, as well as additional radiological impacts. Nation has coal, oil and gas, and uranium mining (mines now closed) on its Tribal lands. Both mine water and treated processing effluents often contain high concentrations of salts. Nevertheless, in 1999 the local administration agreed with AREVA that the radiological situation at the Puy de l’Age mine was “normal” and that further water treatment and environmental monitoring was unnecessary. Not a MyNAP member yet? Found insideThis book provides recent developments and comprehensive knowledge to the researchers and academicians who are working on uranium contaminated areas worldwide. In the course of the EJOLT project, the CRIIRAD laboratory conducted in May 2012 radiation monitoring activities in the surroundings of the uranium mine commissioned by Paladin Africa Limited (PAL) in Kayelekera (Malawi). Mathews et al. To ensure that the monitoring plan and site conceptual and numerical models are appropriate and reflect the latest scientific understanding, the monitoring plan and site models should be reviewed annually by an independent group of qualified experts. Much is already known about the environmental impacts of mining, both on-site and off-site, and that body of information provides a basis for this chapter. Uranium toxicity to fish is hardness-dependent (with toxicity being inversely related to hardness), although hardness does not affect the toxicity of uranium to other aquatic organisms. Two pits at Cluff Lake (“D” and “Claude”) were mined first, followed by an underground mine (“OP/DP”), followed by three other pits (“DJN,” “DJX,” and “DJ”). The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) requires radon monitoring of exhaust air from underground uranium mines for the purpose of estimating worker exposure, but these measurements have application for offsite exposure assessments as well. The following sections explore the various impacts on surface water quantity from modern uranium mining and processing. Local groundwater recharge rates are also likely to be reduced as discussed previously in the section on surface water runoff. Control measures include enclosure of dusty operations, dust collection systems, dust suppression systems, spraying or wetting dust, ventilation systems specific to conveyor belts and other rock moving systems (see also Chapter 8 for best practices). and safer mining practices points to the future of nuclear energy. New roadways and railways that disturb forestland may have the consequence of bisecting and disturbing habitat. with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. Winter 2012. A third line of monitoring could involve local authorities such as cities, municipal water purveyors, or local air pollution control districts, who could identify monitoring strategies focused on their specific jurisdictions. Scenario 4: Severe environmental impact in terms of the qualities of air, water, noise, and soil. Mines are located in proximity to the starred location in the left-center portion of the figure. Passive hydraulic isolation employs materials of contrasting permeability to direct water flow around rather than through the tailings. For example, arsenic and selenium have been found associated with uranium at ore deposits in Canada, but they are not present in significant concentrations in the Coles Hill, Virginia, deposit. Although these exposure pathways are complex, radiation biologists have developed models to quantify them. Breaking the uranium ore into finer particles can occur as part of the mining or the processing. The effects of mining can be divided into on-site ecological effects from the significant disruption of the land surface in the mined area and off-site effects. Additionally, there were long-term changes to the microbial community (bacterial and fungal) of stockpiled soils that altered their function when used to restore mine sites relative to premining conditions or unmined areas (Johnson et al., 1991; Williamson and Johnson, 1991). These impacts are not unique to uranium mining but are common to modern mining operations and large-scale industrial disturbance in general. benthic index); habitat characterization; and identification of species or communities of special interest that could be affected by construction or facility operation. 0000015050 00000 n Perhaps the most serious concern is water quality. Activities include: testing private wells or other water supply sources within the Grants Mining District; working with private [4] The ore deposits Found insideThis volume was written in preparation for a short course by the same title, sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America, October 22 and 23, 1999 in Golden, Colorado, prior to MSA's joint annual meeting with the Geological Society of ... Mitigation of surface water quality effects from another early uranium mining operation that was active during the same period (1955-1996), at Elliot Lake in Ontario, Canada, had somewhat greater success while providing some important lessons for future uranium mining operations. This book follows the production process step by step and country by country from uranium mining to the final assembly and storage of weapons, analyzing the potential hazards of each step and compiling the most complete information ... Baseline data will also provide a basis for returning the land to unrestricted use after the operations cease. However, no effects on growth or survival (Correa et al., 2008), which are more ecologically relevant effects, were found, and the chemical form of thorium used in the experiments is not a form in which thorium would typically be found in the environment. on the wider natural environment from the full range of operational activities related to uranium mining and the rest of the nuclear fuel cycle. The agencies have worked together to address public health and environmental impacts from historical uranium mining on the Navajo Reservation and continue to consult with our Navajo Nation counterparts on the plan. Yet the impacts of uranium mining on health and environment are often absent from calculations of social costs of nuclear power and neglected in the public debate about expanding nuclear power capacity. These strategies have not been extremely Active hydraulic isolation, similar to mine dewatering, uses a series of actively pumped wells to lower the local water table and maintain groundwater flow into rather than through or out of the tailings. Williamson and Johnson (1990) concluded that the nitrogen reserves in topsoil that was stockpiled and subsequently replaced were wasted because of changes in nitrogen cycling in those soils while they were stockpiled. The tailings leachate with low pH and elevated metal and radionuclide concentrations led to declines in fish populations downstream (Clulow et al., 1998). For more information on the remediation of radioactive wastes in the environment, see NRC (2009a,b, 2010) and USEPA (2008). closure plan, then they are placed in an engineered disposal cell. Their report called for the development of a strategy to integrate the technical, institutional, and social problems related to site management and the establishment of a program to address those problems. Environmental Impact There should be assessment of the direct and indirect impacts of the uranium mining and processing operation with associated developments, as proposed in Section (7), based upon the description of the existing environment provided in Section (6). EJOLT Report 21: Impact of the Kayelekera uranium mine, Malawi. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA, 1992) proposed guideline dose rates below which effects on plant and animal populations would be unlikely. Uranium … • Uranium mining, processing, and reclamation in Virginia have the potential to affect surface water quality and quantity groundwater quality and quantity, soils, air quality, and biota. The main types include: Surface mining or open-pit mining oxidized uranium(VI) species. However, the primary emphasis of the chapter is on the unique impacts caused by uranium mining, processing, and waste management. This second edition examines the problems facing the mining industry, and offers practical case studies, as well as new solutions for environmental restoration and remediation. Additionally, moisture stress will be a major factor dictating which plants will be successful on reclaimed soil. A few studies having reference on mining of uranium, environmental impact, impact on the health and health related issues are mentioned and reviewed in this paper. McCormick et al. The difference in scope At this location, tailings were deposited into a small lake adjacent to Langley Bay, but a tailings dam failure in 1960 allowed the tailings to move into Langley Bay—a shallow body of water adjacent to Lake Athabasca—where they formed a deltaic deposit bisecting the bay. This book offers a complete primer, covering the end-to-end process of forecast production, and bringing together a description of all the relevant aspects together in a single volume; with plenty of explanation of some of the more complex ... The recommendations from the Review of Environmental Impacts of the Acid In-situ Leach Uranium Mining Process (2004) have now been implemented into the appropriate regulatory programs of the South Australian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and Department of Primary Industry and Resources, South Australia (PIRSA). 3. (1997) used flow-duration analysis to demonstrate that surface mining can also cause significant changes in baseflow levels in streams, but the changes were variable among the watersheds examined and a responsible mechanism could not be determined. All rights reserved. "The report, "'They Destroyed Everything': Mining and Human Rights in Malawi," examines the impact of extractive industries on communities in some of Malawi's first mining areas, in Karonga district located on the northwestern shores of ... An aboveground tailings dam failure (e.g., due to liquefaction associated with a seismic event, an exceptionally high rising rate from local precipitation, improper spillway design leading to overtopping) would allow for a significant sudden release of ponded water and solid tailings into receiving waters (see Box 6.2). Environmental Impacts and Health Aspects in the Mining Industry iii Abstract This thesis work has analysed environmental impacts and health aspects in the mining industry of copper, uranium and gold with the aim of determining the relative performance, in a given set of parameters, of the uranium mining … These precipitates coat the substrate and cause additional biological degradation. Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 0521446376 Category: Political Science Page: 251 View: 524 Read Now » A plea for a just society, this book is about reconciliation with Australia's Aboriginal people. uranium mining and milling operations generated liquid wastes that included water produced from mine dewatering operations and process waters from milling operations. Uranium mining has widespread effects, contaminating the environment with radioactive dust, radon gas, water-borne toxins, and increased levels of background radiation. Uranium mining is the first step in the generation of both nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Citizens expressed concern about the air pollution and particulate matter that could be generated by a uranium mining and processing operation, and mobilization of contaminants by airborne mechanisms. The Coles Hill uranium deposit and a number of other properties with former uranium leases (but unproven potential) are located upstream of Virginia Beach’s drinking water intake, located in Lake Gaston. [4] B. Weil, Modern uranium processing operations are designed, constructed, and intended to be operated in a clean environment in which all materials are accounted.

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