Characterization of uranium-contaminated sediments from beneath a nuclear waste storage tank from Hanford, Washington: Implications for contaminant transport and fate

Um, Wooyong; Icenhower, Jonathan P.; Brown, Christopher F.; Serne, R.J.; Wang, Zheming; Dodge, Cleveland J.; Francis, A.J.

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.11.014

Cited by 37 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In both samples, the highest uranium concentration was found in the silt/clay-size fractions (176 and 66.2 µg/g for samples C7654-24-25.2 and C7654-34-34, respectively), while the coarse-sand fractions of each sediment contained about half as much acid-extractable uranium (81.8 and 33.4 µg/g for samples C7654-24-25.2 and C7654-34-34, respectively). This finding is consistent with results in Um et al (2010), who did similar experiments with both fine-grained lens materials and coarse-grained sand samples collected from the Hanford Site. …”

Section: Particle-size Effect On Uranium Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 92%

Uranium in Hanford Site 300 Area: Extraction Data on Borehole Sediments

Wang¹,

Serne²,

Lindberg³

et al. 2012

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Executive SummaryIn this study, sediments collected from boreholes drilled in 2010 and 2011 as part of a remedial investigation/feasibility study were characterized. The wells, located within or around two process ponds and one process trench waste site, were characterized in terms of total uranium concentration, mobile fraction of uranium, particle size, and moisture content along the borehole depth. In general, the graveldominated sediments of the vadose zone Hanford formation in all investigated boreholes had low moisture contents.Based on total uranium content, a total of 48 vadose zone and periodically rewetted zone sediment samples were selected for more detailed characterization, including measuring the concentration of uranium extracted with 8 M nitric acid, and leached using bicarbonate mixed solutions to determine the liable uranium (U(VI)) contents. In addition, water extraction was conducted on 17 selected sediments.Results from the sediment acid and bicarbonate extractions indicated the total concentrations of anthropogenic labile uranium in the sediments varied among the investigated boreholes. The peak uranium concentration (114.84 µg/g, acid extract) in <2-mm size fractions was found in borehole 399-1-55, which was drilled directly in the southwest corner of the North Process Pond. Lower uranium concentrations (~0.3-2.5 µg/g, acid extract) in <2-mm size fractions were found in boreholes 399-1-57, 399-1-58, and 399-1-59, which were drilled either near the Columbia River or inland and upgradient of any waste process ponds or trenches. A general trend of "total" uranium concentrations was observed that increased as the particle size decreased when relating the sediment particle size and acid extractable uranium concentrations in two selected sediment samples. The labile uranium bicarbonate leaching kinetic experiments on three selected sediments indicated a two-step leaching rate: an initial rapid release, followed by a slow continual release of uranium from the sediment. Based on the uranium leaching kinetic results, quasi-equilibrium can be assumed after 1000-h batch reaction time in this study.

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Section: Particle-size Effect On Uranium Concentrationssupporting

confidence: 92%

Uranium in Hanford Site 300 Area: Extraction Data on Borehole Sediments

Wang¹,

Serne²,

Lindberg³

et al. 2012

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“…High-uranium groundwaters in Kazakhstan, Australia and Canada are often encountered in uranium mining areas since those three countries provide about 64% of the world's uranium production (World Nuclear Association, 2012). Leakage from nuclear power plants and military use of depleted uranium also pose a high risk of uranium contamination into natural waters (Bleise et al, 2003;Um et al, 2010).…”

Section: Worldwide Occurrence Of Fluoride and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

Removal of fluoride and uranium by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis: A review

2014

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“…The TRLFS technique was used in this work because of its demonstrated usefulness in determining uranium speciation in different sediments (Wang et al 2005a, b;Um et al 2009Um et al , 2010.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium speciation in river sediments contaminated by phosphate ores

et al. 2011

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Large amounts of phosphate ores with high\ud concentrations of uranium were dumped by a phosphate\ud plant into the Flix water reservoir in the Ebre River,\ud Catalonia, NE Spain. These phosphate wastes have been\ud mixed over the years with effluents from other industries as\ud well as with the sediments of the river, resulting in a\ud complex mixture of solid wastes and sediments. No\ud investigations on uranium speciation in such sediments\ud were made because of the complexity of the sediments\ud composition as well as the relatively low uranium content.\ud However, these studies are necessary in order to predict the\ud release of the uranium to the river waters. Here, we studied\ud uranium speciation in sediments from two sampling points\ud of the Flix water reservoir and at depths from 5 to 113 cm.\ud We used room temperature time-resolved laser fluorescence\ud spectroscopy and a three-step sequential extraction\ud procedure described by the Standards, Measurements, and\ud Testing Programme of the European Union. We found that\ud uranium was mainly present in the sediment samples as\ud meta-autunite [Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2 10–12H2O], whose low\ud solubility will result in a low release of uranium to the river\ud waters. In addition, we found that some uranium was\ud linked to sediments by forming surface complexes. We\ud therefore made the first study of uranium speciation in the\ud sediments of the Flix water reservoir.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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Characterization of uranium-contaminated sediments from beneath a nuclear waste storage tank from Hanford, Washington: Implications for contaminant transport and fate

Cited by 37 publications

References 45 publications

Uranium in Hanford Site 300 Area: Extraction Data on Borehole Sediments

Uranium in Hanford Site 300 Area: Extraction Data on Borehole Sediments

Removal of fluoride and uranium by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis: A review

Uranium speciation in river sediments contaminated by phosphate ores

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