Effect of Natural Zeolite on Pore Structure of Cemented Uranium Tailings Backfill

The use of some environmental functional minerals as backfill-modified materials may improve the leaching resistance of cemented uranium tailings backfill created from alkali-activated slag(CUTB),but these materials may participate in the hydration reaction of the cementitious materials,which could have a certain impact on the pore structure of the CUTB,thus affecting its mechanical properties and leaching resistance.In this paper,natural zeolite is selected as the backfill-modified material,and it is added to alkali-activated slag paste(AASP)and CUTB in cementitious material proportions of 4%,8%,12%,and 16%to prepare AASP mixtures and CUTB mixtures containing environmental functional minerals.After the addition of natural zeolite,the porosity of the CUTB generally increases,but when the content is 4%,the porosity decreases to 22.30%.The uniaxial compressive strength(UCS)of the CUTB generally decreases,but the decrease is the smallest when the content is 4%,and the UCS is 12.37 MPa.The addition of natural zeolite mainly reduces the number of fine pores in the CUTB,but the pores with relaxation times T_(2)of greater than 10 ms account for about 10%of the total pores,and there are a certain number of large pores in the CUTB.The main product of alkali-activated slag is calcium(alumino)silicate hydrate(C-(A)-S-H gel).When natural zeolite is added,the hydration products develop towards denser products with a high degree of polymerization and the formation of low polymerization products is reduced.This affects the internal fracture pores of the hydration products and the interface pores of the CUTB,has an irregular effect on the pore characteristics of the CUTB,and influences the UCS.

Radioecological Assessment of the Uranium Tailings in Tuyuk-Suu （Kyrgyzstan）

Radioecological Assessment of the Uranium Tailings in Tuyuk-Suu （Kyrgyzstan）. The aim of our research is the radioecological assessment of the current state of uranium tailings in Tuyuk-Suu. The methods of field and laboratory analysis were conducted with the modem radiological and nuclear physics equipment. Gamma survey was shown that the surface of the tailings Tuyuk-Suu and Taldy-Bulak may effectively reduce the exposure dose of gamma radiation, the body Tuyuk Suu is flooding with water flowing near the river in a concrete channel, so it should be constantly monitoring the state of the tailings and the river Tuyuk-Suu. In this article is given the analysis and estimates of the current radiation condition of the tailings dam and Min-Kush settlement. It was for the first time made the radiological analysis after closing of the uranium tailings in a body of the most tail material and it is estimated states possible pollution to environment.

Geotechnical behavior of uranium mill tailings from Saskatchewan,Canada

This paper investigates the geotechnical behavior of uranium mill tailings from Saskatchewan, Canada.The 4% tailings were well-graded with 29% fines whereas the 5% and 6% tailings were gap-graded with 49% fines. All samples exhibited a negligible strength(0.4 k Pa) up to 60% solids, followed by a rapid increase. The 4% tailings exhibited a lower rate and amount of settlement than 5% and 6% tailings. The kidecreased from 10^(-2)to 10^(-4)m/s with a decrease in eifrom 16 to 4 and a decrease in ef from 8 to 4 such that 4% tailings showed one order of magnitude lower values than the 5% and 6%tailings. The settling potential decreased ten times(50%–5%) for 4% tailings and four times(60%–15%)for 5% and 6% tailings. The effective stress increased from 80 to 260 Pa in the settling tests. The 4%tailings were less prone to segregation when compared with 5% and 6% tailings. The average solids content after settling was 35% for 4% tailings, 40% for 5% tailings and 39% for 6% tailings with a solids content deviation of ±3%, ±8%, ±6%, respectively. All materials were essentially non-segregating at 40%initial solids.

Estimating Radon Flux and Environmental Radiation Dose from Decommisioning Uranium Mill Tailings and Mining Debris

Based on a case study on uranium mine No.765 of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the paper briefly describes disposal program and effect of decommissioning uranium mine/mill facilities and quantitatively evaluates radon fluxes and doses to man of gaseous airborne pathway from mill tailings and mining debris before and after decommissioning, including annual individual effective dose to critical groups and annual collective effective dose to the population within 80 km region of the facilities.

Uranium sorption on oxyhydroxide minerals by surface complexation and precipitation

During the chemical weathering of the uranium mill tailings,released uranium could be immobilized by the newly formed secondary minerals such as oxyhydroxides.A deeper understanding of the interaction between uranium and common oxyhydroxides under environmental conditions is necessary.In this work,uranium sorption behaviors on Al-,Mn-and Fe-oxyhydroxide minerals(boehmite,manganite,goethite,and lepidocrocite)were investigated by batch experiments.Results showed that the uranium sorption on Al-oxyhydroxide behaved significantly differently from the other three minerals.The sorption edge of the Mn-and Fe-oxyhydroxides located around pH 5,while the sorption edge of boehmite shifted about 1.5 pH unit to near neutral.The sorption isotherms of uranium on manganite,goethite and lepidocrocite at pH 5.0 could be well fitted by the Langmuir model.Instead of surface complexation,sorption on boehmite happened mainly by uranium-bearing carbonates and hydroxides precipitation as illustrated by the characterization results.Both carbonate and phosphate strongly affected the uranium sorption behavior.The removal efficiency of uranium by boehmite exceeded 98%after three sorption-desorption cycles,indicating it may be a potential material for uranium removal and recovery.