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Re: Scare tactics
>>>>>>>>>> <Holloway3@aol.com> 02/09 11:56 PM >>>
In a message dated 2/9/1999 6:12:34 PM Pacific Standard Time,
aduchem@wantree.com.au writes:
<< Absolutely 100% right. But there is enormous difficulty in convincing
people that the tailings problem is NOT uranium. Certainly if U is detected
in the drinkign water it must have come from another source, and not the
tailings. >>
You may be right, but I am not so sure. What extraction mechanism is 100%
effective in removing all the uranium? I would think that there would be some
uranium in the tailings as well as the other members of the decay chain. <snip>
The uranium content of water used by Las Vegas and
other downstream locations is well within normal limits.
holloway3@aol.com
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<<<<<<<<<<
I agree with Holloway3 (?name?) that there is some uranium in the tailings pile. In addition to the process not being 100% efficient, over the life of a mill, various contaminated materials are placed in the tailings pile, and some of these may contain significant quantities of uranium. And, because uranium tends to more mobile than other radionuclides in the tailings, there can be uranium that migrates into the ground water. However, my understanding is that the concentrations in the river at locations where anyone would extract drinking water are indistinguishable from background levels.
For the Atlas Tailings site, the bigger issue related to contaminants in the river is due to seepage containing ammonia, to which some aquatic species are relatively sensitive (though people are not). This issue is still under consideration.
If anyone needs additional information, I can try to refer you to the appropriate people at the NRC (who license the Atlas site).
Duane.
Duane W. Schmidt, CHP
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
Division of Waste Management
Uranium Recovery Branch
mailto: dws2@nrc.gov
!
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