Waste Stream Management for the Uranium Industry

铀工业是加拿大经济的主要经济驱动力。尽管行业参与者和监管机构尽了最大努力，但铀矿的开采和提炼对这些活动所在的当地环境产生了影响。该项目旨在调查问题并提供有助于减少铀提取和精炼影响的解决方案。与该项目特别相关的是钼和钋污染物以及铀本身。该项目有三个分项目，每个分项目旨在加强我们对这些污染物一旦释放到环境中的行为的了解，并审查减少排放或减轻排放影响的方法。将研究沉积物中铀沉积后的再活化问题。从理论上讲，缺氧沉积物中的铀是不流动的，因此不存在环境问题。然而，我们最近的证据表明，即使在缺氧条件下，也可以将大量的铀释放到上覆的沃茨中。我们将决定什么条件允许这种释放。钋-210是一种剧毒物质，是铀衰变系列的产物，因此与铀开采有关。虽然Po-210在排放沃茨中的浓度极低，但在接收沃茨的某些生物群中发现了可检测到的浓度。该项目将研究Po在营养级之间的转移，以确定发生生物累积的途径。将测定采矿废水和受纳沃茨中钼的形态。的发展 钼形态的模型将提高我们预测钼对环境影响的能力。此外，该研究还将研究减少操作中Mo释放的潜在有用方法。这三个子项目将大大提高我们对铀提取和提炼相关问题的理解，并为铀工业减轻其作业对环境的影响提供有价值的信息。

The uranium industry is a major economic driver for the Canadian economy. Despite the best efforts of industry participants and regulatory bodies, the extraction and refining of uranium ore has impacts on the local environments where these activities take place. This project is designed to investigate issues and provide solutions that help to reduce the impacts of uranium extraction and refining. Of specific relevance to this project are the contaminants molybdenum and polonium as well as uranium itself. This project has three sub-projects, each of which is designed to enhance our understanding of the behaviour of these contaminants once released into the environment and to examine ways to reduce releases or mitigate the impacts of releases. The problem of remobilization of U in sediments once the U has been deposited will be investigated. In theory, U present in anoxic sediments is immobile and thus not of environmental concern, However, our recent evidence suggests that even under anoxic conditions significant amounts U can be released to overlying waters. We will determine what conditions permit this release. Polonium-210, a highly toxic substance, is a daughter of the U decay series and is thus associated with U mining. Although the concentrations of Po-210 are extremely low in discharge waters, detectable concentrations are found in some biota in receiving waters. This project will examine transfer of Po across trophic levels to determine the pathway of bioaccumulation occurring. Speciation of Mo in mining effluents and receiving waters will be determined. The development of a model for Mo speciation will enhance our ability to predict environmental impacts from Mo. As well, the study will examine potentially useful methods for reducing the release of Mo from operations. Together these three sub-projects will greatly enhance our understanding of these elements of concern associated with U extraction and refining and provide valuable information for use by the U industry in mitigation of the environmental impacts of their operations.