Abstract |
Ground-water contamination from uranium mining and milling results from the infiltration of mine, mill, and ion-exchange plant effluents containing elevated concentrations of radium, selenium, and nitrate. Available data indicate that radium concentrations in the discharge waters of a producing mine tend to increase substantially as the ore body is developed. Whereas natural background radium concentrations are generally about several picocuries/liter (pCi/l), 100 to 150 pCi/l appear in the effluents of operating mines. The discharge of such highly contaminated mine effluents to streams and seepage from tailings ponds, creates a long-lived source of ground-water contamination. Seepage of mill tailings at two active mills ranges from 126,000 to 491,000 cu m/yr and, to date, has contributed an estimated 2400 Curies of uranium, radium, and thorium to the ground-water reservoir. Radium, selenium, nitrate and, to a lesser extent, uranium, are of most value as indicators of ground-water contamination. |