Radionuclide containment in soil by phosphate treatment

Radionuclide transport from a contaminant source to groundwater and surface water is a common problem faced by most US Department of Energy (DOE) facilities. Containment of the radionuclide plume, including strontium-90 and uranium, is possible using phosphate treatment as a chemical stabilizer. Such a chemical process occurs in soils under natural environmental conditions. Therefore, the concept of phosphate amendment for radiostrontium and uranium immobilization is already a proven principle. In this presentation, results of bench-scale experiments and the concept of a field-scale demonstration are discussed. The phosphate treatment is possible at the source or near the advancing contaminant plume. Cleanup is still the ideal concept; however, containment through stabilization is a more practical and costeffective concept that should be examined by DOE Environmental Restoration programs

Search for triboson W±W±W∓ production in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper reports a search for triboson $W^{\pm}W^{\pm}W^{\mp}$ production in two decay channels ($W^{\pm}W^{\pm}W^{\mp}\rightarrow \ell^{\pm}\nu\ell^{\pm}\nu\ell^{\mp}\nu$ and $W^{\pm}W^{\pm}W^{\mp}\rightarrow \ell^{\pm}\nu\ell^{\pm}\nu{}jj$ with $\ell=e, \mu$) in proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb$^{-1}$ at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with exactly three charged leptons, or two leptons with the same electric charge in association with two jets, are selected. The total number of events observed in data is consistent with the Standard Model (SM) predictions. The observed 95 % confidence level upper limit on the SM $W^{\pm}W^{\pm}W^{\mp}$ production cross section is found to be 730 fb with an expected limit of 560 fb in the absence of SM $W^{\pm}W^{\pm}W^{\mp}$ production. Limits are also set on $WWWW$ anomalous quartic gauge couplings.Comment: Comments: 39 pages in total, author list starting page 23, 5 figures, 7 tables, submitted to European Physics Journal C, All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2015-07

Physicochemical and mineralogical characterization of transuranic contaminated soils for uranium soil integrated demonstration

DOE has initiated the Uranium Soils Integrated Demonstration (USID) project. The objective of the USID project is to develop a remediation strategy that can be adopted for use at other DOE sites requiring remediation. Four major task groups within the USID project were formed, namely the Characterization Task Group (CTG), the Treatability Task Group (TTG), the Secondary Waste Treatment and Disposal Task Group (SWTDTG), and the Risk and Performance Assessment Task Group (RPATG). The CTG is responsible for determining the nature of the uranium contamination in both untreated and treated soil. The TTG is responsible for the selective removal of uranium from these soils in such a manner that the leaching does not seriously degrade the soil`s physicochemical characteristics or generate a secondary waste form that is difficult to manage and/or dispose. The SWTDTG is responsible for developing strategies for the removal of uranium from all wastewaters generated by the TTGs. Finally the RPATG is responsible for developing the human health and environmental risk assessment of the untreated and treated soils. Because of the enormity of the work required to successfully remediate uranium-contaminated soils, an integrated approach was designed to avoid needless repetition of activities among the various participants in the USID project. Researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) were assigned characterization and/or treatability duties in their areas of specialization. All tasks groups are involved in the integrated approach; however, the thrust of this report concentrates on the utility of the integrated approach among the various members of the CTG. This report illustrates the use of the integrated approach for the overall CTG and to provide the results generated specifically by the CTG or ORNL from FY1993 to the present

The use of carbonate lixiviants to remove uranium from uranium-contaminated soils

The objective of this research was to design an extraction media and procedure that would selectively remove uranium without adversely affecting the soils` physicochemical characteristics or generating secondary waste forms difficult to manage or dispose of. Investigations centered around determining the best lixivant and how the various factors such as pH, time, and temperature influenced extraction efficiency. Other factors investigated included the influence of attrition scrubbing, the effect of oxidants and reductants and the recycling of lixiviants. Experimental data obtained at the bench- and pilot-scale levels indicated 80 to 95% of the uranium could be removed from the uranium-contaminated soils by using a carbonate lixiviant. The best treatment was three successive extractions with 0.25 M carbonate-bicarbonate (in presence of KMnO{sub 4} as an oxidant) at 40 C followed with two water rinses

Selective leaching of uranium from uranium-contaminated soils: Progress report 1

Three soils and a sediment contaminated with uranium were used to determine the effectiveness of sodium carbonate and citric acid leaching to decontaminated or remove uranium to acceptable regulatory levels. Two of the soils were surface soils from the DOE facility formerly called the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) at Fernald, Ohio. This facility is presently called the Femald Environmental Management Project (FEMP). Carbonate extractions generally removed from 70 to 90% of the uranium from the Fernald storage pad soil. Uranium was slightly more difficult to extract from the Fernald incinerator and the Y-12 landfarm soils. Very small amounts of uranium could be extracted from the storm sewer sediment. Extraction with carbonate at high solution-to-soil ratios were as effective as extractions at low solution-to-soil ratios, indicating attrition by the paddle mixer was not significantly different than that provided in a rotary extractor. Also, pretreatments such as milling or pulverizing the soil sample did not appear to increase extraction efficiency when carbonate extractions were carried out at elevated temperatures (60[degree]C) or long extraction times (23 h). Adding KMnO[sub 4] in the carbonate extraction appeared to increase extraction efficiency from the Fernald incinerator soil but not the Fernald storage pad soil. The most effective leaching rates (> 90 % from both Fernald soils) were obtained using a citrate/dithionite extraction procedure designed to remove amorphous (noncrystalline) iron/aluminum sesquioxides from surfaces of clay minerals. Citric acid also proved to be a very good extractant for uranium

Selective leaching of uranium from uranium-contaminated soils: Progress report 1

Three soils and a sediment contaminated with uranium were used to determine the effectiveness of sodium carbonate and citric acid leaching to decontaminated or remove uranium to acceptable regulatory levels. Two of the soils were surface soils from the DOE facility formerly called the Feed Materials Production Center (FMPC) at Fernald, Ohio. This facility is presently called the Femald Environmental Management Project (FEMP). Carbonate extractions generally removed from 70 to 90% of the uranium from the Fernald storage pad soil. Uranium was slightly more difficult to extract from the Fernald incinerator and the Y-12 landfarm soils. Very small amounts of uranium could be extracted from the storm sewer sediment. Extraction with carbonate at high solution-to-soil ratios were as effective as extractions at low solution-to-soil ratios, indicating attrition by the paddle mixer was not significantly different than that provided in a rotary extractor. Also, pretreatments such as milling or pulverizing the soil sample did not appear to increase extraction efficiency when carbonate extractions were carried out at elevated temperatures (60{degree}C) or long extraction times (23 h). Adding KMnO{sub 4} in the carbonate extraction appeared to increase extraction efficiency from the Fernald incinerator soil but not the Fernald storage pad soil. The most effective leaching rates (> 90 % from both Fernald soils) were obtained using a citrate/dithionite extraction procedure designed to remove amorphous (noncrystalline) iron/aluminum sesquioxides from surfaces of clay minerals. Citric acid also proved to be a very good extractant for uranium

A COMPARISON OF SEVERAL APPROACHES TO MONITOR WATER-TABLE FLUCTUATIONS

Relationships established between redoximorphic features and the seasonal high water table should be based on the most accurate representation of water-table fluctuations. In this study, we compared hydrographs developed using water-table readings made at weekly intervals over a 12-wk period to those developed over the same period for an adjacent water-table well using measurements recorded every half hour by a data logger. The hydrograph developed using the weekly readings underestimated the height of the water table for 33% of the study period. A simple inexpensive maximum water-table recording device (MWTRD) was developed to record the highest level the water table reached during the interval between site visits. Two approaches are demonstrated for improving the accuracy of the weekly hydrograph using data collected by the MWTRD along with a limited amount of logger data. These adjusted hydrographs accounted for \u3e80% of the underestimation of the height of the water table compared with the weekly measurements