The US Department of Energy`s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project requires that mill tailings, containing low-level radioactive uranium mill tailings and other waste, be stabilized and controlled by placement in an encapsulated disposal cell. The cover of the cell is a multi-layer system which includes a low-permeability earthen radon/infiltration barrier, a bedding layer, and a erosion protection layer. The radon/infiltration barrier is designed to limit the radon flux and reduce water infiltration. The performance criteria established by the US Environmental Protection Agency in 40 CFR 192 require the cover to be effective for up to 1000 years to the extent reasonably achievable, and in any case, for at least 200 years. One concern that would affect the integrity of the radon/infiltration barrier is the potential for cracking due to the post-construction settlement of underlying compressible materials. To investigate the potential of cover cracking for UMTRA disposal cells, a simplified beam analysis is used to determine the horizontal movements and strains due to the differential settlements at the top surface of a relatively incompressible layer (e.g. radon/infiltration barrier and compacted tailings). The potential of cover cracking is then evaluated by comparing the calculated horizontal tensile strains with the strains …

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established health and environmental regulations to correct and prevent ground water contamination resulting from former uranium processing activities at inactive uranium processing sites (40 CFR Part 192 (1993)) (52 FR 36000 (1978)). According to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978 (42 USC {section} 7901 et seq.), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for assessing the inactive uranium processing sites. The DOE has decided that each assessment will include information on hydrogeologic site characterization. The water resources protection strategy that describes the proposed action compliance with the EPA ground water protection standards is presented in Attachment 4, Water Resources Protection Strategy. Site characterization activities discussed in this section include the following: (1) Definition of the hydrogeologic characteristics of the environment, including hydrostratigraphy, aquifer parameters, areas of aquifer recharge and discharge, potentiometric surfaces, and ground water velocities. (2) Definition of background ground water quality and comparison with proposed EPA ground water protection standards. (3) Evaluation of the physical and chemical characteristics of the contaminant source and/or residual radioactive materials. (4) Definition of existing ground water contamination by comparison with the EPA ground water protection standards. (5) Description of the …

The Maybell uranium mill tailings site is 25 miles (mi) (40 kilometers [km]) west of the town of Craig, Colorado, in Moffat County, in the northwestern part of the state. The unincorporated town of Maybell is 5 road mi (8 km) southwest of the site. The designated site covers approximately 110 acres (ac) (45 hectares [ha]) and consists of a concave-shaped tailings pile and rubble from the demolition of the mill buildings buried in the former mill area. Contaminated materials at the Maybell processing site include the tailings pile, which has an average depth of 20 feet (ft) (6 meters [m]) and contains 2.8 million cubic yards (yd{sup 3}) (2.1 million cubic meters [m{sup 3}]) of tailings. The former mill processing area is on the north side of the site and contains 20,000 yd{sup 3} (15,000 m{sup 3}) of contaminated demolition debris. Off-pile contamination is present and includes areas adjacent to the tailings pile, as well as contamination dispersed by wind and surface water flow. The volume of off-pile contamination to be placed in the disposal cell is 550,000 yd{sup 3} (420,000 m{sup 3}). The total volume of contaminated materials to be disposed of as part of the remedial action …

To protect human health and the environment, the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project will remediate the uranium mill tailings site at Gunnison Colorado. There are explicit requirements (i.e., 40 CFR Part 192) for the surface remediation of radiologically contaminated soils on UMTRA sites. The removal of subpile sediment to the depth required by 40 CFR Part 192 will leave in place deeper foundation sediment that is contaminated with hazardous constituents other than radium-226 and thorium-230. The Department of Energy and the Colorado Department of Health have questioned whether this contaminated soil could potentially act as a continuing source of ground water contamination even after surface remediation based on 40 CFR Part 192 is complete. To evaluate the subpile sediments as a potential source of ground water contamination, the Gunnison Subpile study was initiated. This report summarizes the results and findings of this study.

Column flotation provides excellent recovery of ultrafine coal while producing low ash content concentrates. However, column flotation is not efficient for treating fine coal containing significant amounts of mixed-phase particles. Fortunately, enhanced gravity separation has proved to have the ability to treat the mixed-phased particles more effectively. A disadvantage of gravity separation is that ultrafine clay particles are not easily rejected. Thus, a combination of these two technologies may provide a circuit that maximizes both the ash and sulfur rejection that can be achieved by physical coal cleaning while maintaining a high energy recovery. This project is studying the potential of using different combinations of gravity separators, i.e., a Floatex hydrosizer and a Falcon Concentrator, and a proven flotation column, which will be selected based on previous studies by the principle investigator. The gravity/flotation circuits will be compared based on their optimum separation performance which will consider ash and total sulfur rejection and energy recovery as well as the probable error (E{sub p}) value obtained from washability analyses. During this reporting period, multi-stage treatment using the Falcon concentrator was conducted on a refuse pond ({minus}100 mesh) coal sample and a {minus}28 mesh run-of-mine coal sample. The results suggest that the …

To protect human health and the environment, the UMTRA project will remediate the uranium mill tailings site at Gunnison, Colorado. There are explicit requirements (i.e., 40 Part CFR Part 192) for the surface remediation of radiologically contaminated soils on UMTRA sites. The removal of subpile sediment to the depth required by 40 CFR Part 192 will leave in place deeper foundation sediment that is contaminated with hazardous constituents other than radium-226 and thorium-230. The Department of Energy and the Colorado Department of Health have questioned whether this contaminated soil could potentially act as a continuing source of ground water contamination even after surface remediation based on 40 CFR Part 192 is complete. To evaluate the subpile sediments as a potential source of ground water contamination, the Gunnison subpile study was initiated. This report summarizes the results and findings of this study.

A contamination depth and cobbly soil characterization study was performed in November and December 1993 at the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Projects`s New Rifle, Colorado, processing site. This study was initiated due to a concurrence by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) clarifying that the allowable residual contamination in soil should be averaged over the total mass of the soil volume, including cobbles and gravels (i.e., bulk concentration). The New Rifle processing site has a high percentage of cobbles and gravels underlying the pile and other contaminated areas, which preliminary excavation designs have identified for removal and disposal. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative mass percentage and radionuclide concentrations of cobbles and gravels in order to determine the bulk contamination concentrations, revise the underlying excavation design depths, and improve verification methods. Another important goal of the study was to acquire more accurate contamination depth data (profile) for the subpile material. In summary, this recharacterization study will probably reduce the volume of material for excavation/disposal by several hundred thousand cubic yards and significantly reduce the amount of ground water expected to be pumped out of the excavation during cleanup.

During surface remedial action, an estimated 7.0 million tons (6.4 million tonnes) of uranium mill tailings and other contaminated materials were consolidated and stabilized on the Falls City site. The ground water protection strategy at the Falls City disposal site for the UMTRA Surface Project (Subpart A of 40 CFR Part 192 (1994)) was an application for supplemental standards, based on Class III (limited use) ground water in the uppermost aquifer. This water is not a current or potential source of drinking water. Ground water from the uppermost aquifer (ground water from the Deweesville/Conquista Members and the Dilworth Member) contains widespread ambient contamination resulting from naturally occurring conditions and from the effects of human activity not related to uranium milling operations (uranium exploration and mining activities). The ground water cannot be effectively cleaned up for drinking or other beneficial purposes using treatment methods reasonably employed by public water supply systems. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the state of Texas concurred with the ground water protection strategy for the disposal site in September 1992. Surface remedial action in accord with Subpart A was completed in April 1994. The proposed ground water compliance strategy (Subpart B of 40 CFR Part …

An integrated approach to remove uranium from uranium-contaminated soils is being conducted by four of the US Department of Energy national laboratories. In this approach, managed through the Uranium in Soils Integrated Demonstration program at the Fernald Environmental Management Project, Fernald, Ohio, these laboratories are developing processes that selectively remove uranium from soil without seriously degrading the soil`s physicochemical characteristics or generating waste that is difficult to manage or dispose of. These processes include traditional uranium extractions that use carbonate as well as some nontraditional extraction techniques that use citric acid and complex organic chelating agents such as naturally occurring microbial siderophores. A bench-scale engineering design for heap leaching; a process that uses carbonate leaching media shows that >90% of the uranium can be removed from the Fernald soils. Other work involves amending soils with cultures of sulfur and ferrous oxidizing microbes or cultures of fungi whose role is to generate mycorrhiza that excrete strong complexers for uranium. Aqueous biphasic extraction, a physical separation technology, is also being evaluated because of its ability to segregate fine particulate, a fundamental requirement for soils containing high levels of silt and clay. Interactions among participating scientists have produced some significant progress not only …

The DOE will soon choose between treating contaminated nickel scrap as a legacy waste and developing high-volume nickel decontamination processes. In addition to reducing the volume of legacy wastes, a decontamination process could make 200,000 tons of this strategic metal available for domestic use. Contaminants in DOE nickel scrap include {sup 234}Th, {sup 234}Pa, {sup 137}Cs, {sup 239}Pu (trace), {sup 60}Co, U, {sup 99}Tc, and {sup 237}Np (trace). This report reviews several industrial-scale processes -- electrorefining, electrowinning, vapormetallurgy, and leaching -- used for the purification of nickel. Conventional nickel electrolysis processes are particularly attractive because they use side-stream purification of process solutions to improve the purity of nickel metal. Additionally, nickel purification by electrolysis is effective in a variety of electrolyte systems, including sulfate, chloride, and nitrate. Conventional electrorefining processes typically use a mixed electrolyte which includes sulfate, chloride, and borate. The use of an electrorefining or electrowinning system for scrap nickel recovery could be combined effectively with a variety of processes, including cementation, solvent extraction, ion exchange, complex-formation, and surface sorption, developed for uranium and transuranic purification. Selected processes were reviewed and evaluated for use in nickel side-stream purification. 80 refs.

Weekly newspaper from Odem, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Weekly student newspaper from Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.

The purpose of this report is to assess the availability of technologies to seal underground openings. The technologies are needed to seal the potential high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain. Technologies are evaluated for three basic categories of seal components: backfill (general fill and graded fill), bulkheads, and grout curtains. Not only is placement of seal components assessed, but also preconditioning of the placement area and seal component durability. The approach taken was: First, review selected sealing case histories (literature searches and site visits) from the mining, civil, and defense industries; second, determine whether reasonably available technologies to seal the potential repository exist; and finally, identify deficiencies in existing technologies. It is concluded that reasonably available technologies do exist to place backfill, bulkheads, and grout curtains. Technologies also exist to precondition areas where seal components are to be placed. However, if final performance requirements are stringent for these engineered structures, some existing technologies may need to be developed. Deficiencies currently do exist in technologies that demonstrate the long-term durability and performance of seal components. Case histories do not currently exist that demonstrate the placement of seal components in greatly elevated thermal and high-radiation environments and in areas where ground …

Weekly newspaper from Odem, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Surface remedial action has been completed at the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project in Durango, Colorado. Contaminated soil and debris have been removed from the former processing site and placed in the Bodo Canyon disposal cell. Ground water at the former uranium mill/tailings site and raffinate pond area has been contaminated by the former milling operations. The ground water at the disposal site was not impacted by the former milling operations at the time of the cell`s construction. Activities for fiscal 1994 involve ground water sampling and site characterization of the disposal site.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established health and environmental protection regulations to correct and prevent ground water contamination resulting from processing activities at inactive uranium milling sites (52 FR 36000 (1987)). According to the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act (UMTRCA) of 1978, 42 USC {section}7901 et seq., the US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for assessing the inactive uranium processing sites. The DOE has determined that for Slick Rock, this assessment shall include hydrogeologic site characterization for two separate uranium processing sites, the Union Carbide (UC) site and the North Continent (NC) site, and for the proposed Burro Canyon disposal site. The water resources protection strategy that describes how the proposed action will comply with the EPA ground water protection standards is presented in Attachment 4. The following site characterization activities are discussed in this attachment: Characterization of the hydrogeologic environment, including hydrostratigraphy, ground water occurrence, aquifer parameters, and areas of recharge and discharge. Characterization of existing ground water quality by comparison with background water quality and the maximum concentration limits (MCL) of the proposed EPA ground water protection standards. Definition of physical and chemical characteristics of the potential contaminant source, including concentration and leachability of …

This water sampling and analysis plan summarizes the results of previous water sampling activities and the plan for future water sampling activities, in accordance with the Guidance Document for Preparing Sampling and Analysis Plans for UMTRA Sites. A buffer zone monitoring plan for the Dos Rios Subdivision is included as an appendix. The buffer zone monitoring plan was developed to ensure continued protection to the public from residual contamination. The buffer zone is beyond the area depicted as contaminated ground water due to former milling operations. Surface remedial action at the Gunnison Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project site began in 1992; completion is expected in 1995. Ground water and surface water will be sampled semiannually at the Gunnison processing site and disposal site. Results of previous water sampling at the Gunnison processing site indicate that ground water in the alluvium is contaminated by the former uranium processing activities. Background ground water conditions have been established in the uppermost aquifer at the Gunnison disposal site. The monitor well locations provide a representative distribution of sampling points to characterize ground water quality and ground water flow conditions in the vicinity of the sites. The list of analytes has been modified with …

Weekly newspaper from Picher, Oklahoma that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The site observational work plan (SOWP) for the Shiprock, New Mexico, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project Site is the initial document for developing site-specific activities to achieve regulatory compliance in the UMTRA Ground Water Project. The regulatory framework used to select the proposed ground water compliance strategies is presented along with a discussion of the relationship of this SOWP to other UMTRA Ground Water Project programmatic documents. The Shiprock site consists of two, interconnected hydrogeologic systems: the terrace system and the floodplain system. Separate compliance strategies are proposed for these two systems. The compliance strategy for the terrace aquifer is no remediation with the application of supplemental standards based on classification of the terrace aquifer as having Class III (limited-use) ground water. The compliance strategy for the floodplain aquifer is active remediation using a subsurface biological barrier. These strategies were selected by applying site-specific data to the compliance framework developed in the UMTRA Ground Water programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) (DOE, 1994a). The site conceptual model indicates that milling-related contamination has impacted the ground water in the terrace and floodplain aquifers. Ground water occurs in both aquifers in alluvium and in fractures in the underlying Cretaceous age Mancos …

The Final Safety Evaluation Report (FSER) summarizes the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff`s review of Envirocare of Utah, Inc.`s (Envirocare`s) application for a license to receive, store, and dispose of uranium and thorium byproduct material (as defined in Section 11e.(2) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended) at a site near Clive, Utah. Envirocare proposes to dispose of high-volume, low-activity Section 11e.(2) byproduct material in separate earthen disposal cells on a site where the applicant currently disposes of naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), low-level waste, and mixed waste under license by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. The NRC staff review of the December 23, 1991, license application, as revised by page changes dated July 2 and August 10, 1992, April 5, 7, and 10, 1993, and May 3, 6, 7, 11, and 21, 1993, has identified open issues in geotechnical engineering, water resources protection, radon attenuation, financial assurance, and radiological safety. The NRC will not issue a license for the proposed action until Envirocare adequately resolves these open issues.

This annual report documents the Uranium Mill Tailing Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project environmental monitoring and protection program. The UMTRA Project routinely monitors radiation, radioactive residual materials, and hazardous constituents at associated former uranium tailings processing sites and disposal sites. At the end of 1993, surface remedial action was complete at 10 of the 24 designated UMTRA Project processing sites. In 1993 the UMTRA Project office revised the UMTRA Project Environmental Protection Implementation Plan, as required by the US DOE. Because the UMTRA Project sites are in different stages of remedial action, the breadth of the UMTRA environmental protection program differs from site to site. In general, sites actively undergoing surface remedial action have the most comprehensive environmental programs for sampling media. At sites where surface remedial action is complete and at sites where remedial action has not yet begun, the environmental program consists primarily of surface water and ground water monitoring to support site characterization, baseline risk assessments, or disposal site performance assessments.

This proposed remedial action plan incorporates the results of detailed investigation of geologic, geomorphic, and seismic conditions at the proposed disposal site. The proposed remedial action will consist of relocating the uranium mill tailings, contaminated vicinity property materials, demolition debris, and windblown/waterborne materials to a permanent repository at the proposed Burro Canyon disposal cell. The proposed disposal site will be geomorphically stable. Seismic design parameters were developed for the geotechnical analyses of the proposed cell. Cell stability was analyzed to ensure long-term performance of the disposal cell in meeting design standards, including slope stability, settlement, and liquefaction potential. The proposed cell cover and erosion protection features were also analyzed and designed to protect the RRM (residual radioactive materials) against surface water and wind erosion. The location of the proposed cell precludes the need for permanent drainage or interceptor ditches. Rock to be used on the cell top-, side-, and toeslopes was sized to withstand probable maximum precipitation events.

This report is a summary of the work conducted for the period of October--December 1993 by the West Virginia University for the US DOE Morgantown Energy Technology Center. Research under the program focuses on pertinent technology for hazardous waste clean-up. This report reflects the progress performed on sixteen technical projects encompassed by this program: Systematic assessment of the state of hazardous waste clean-up technologies; Site remediation technologies: (a) Drain-enhanced soil flushing and (b) In situ bio-remediation of organic contaminants; Excavation systems for hazardous waste sites: Dust control methods for in-situ nuclear waste handling; Chemical destruction of polychlorinated biphenyls; Development of organic sensors: Monolayer and multilayer self-assembled films for chemical sensors; Winfield lock and dam remediation; Assessment of technologies for hazardous waste site remediation: Non-treatment technologies and pilot scale test facility implementation; Remediation of hazardous sites with steam reforming; Microbial enrichment for enhancing biodegradation of hazardous organic wastes in soil; Soil decontamination with a packed flotation column; Treatment of volatile organic compounds using biofilters; Use of granular activated carbon columns for the simultaneous removal of organic, heavy metals, and radionuclides; Compact mercuric iodide detector technology development; Evaluation of IR and mass spectrometric techniques for on-site monitoring of volatile organic compounds; and …

Volume I contains papers presented at the following sessions: high efficiency preparation; advanced physical coal cleaning; superclean emission systems; air toxics and mercury measurement and control workshop; and mercury measurement and control workshop. Selected papers have been processed for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.