Assignment 1

Surface Mine Environmental Engineering

Guided by Name- Tanmaya Ping

Prof. D P Tripathy Roll No.-118MN0573
1.Discuss the environmental impacts of uranium mining.

INTRODUCTION
Producing uranium in a safe and environmentally responsible manner is not only important to the producers
and consumers of the product, but also to society at large. Given expectations of growth in nuclear generating
capacity and associated uranium demand in the coming decades – particularly in the developing world –
enhancing awareness of leading practice in uranium mining is important. Uranium mining remains controversial
principally because of legacy environmental and health issues created during the early phase of the industry.
Today, uranium mining is conducted under significantly different circumstances and is now the most regulated
and one of the safest forms of mining in the world . Nuclear power offers a number of economic and
environmental benefits that underpin the deployment of NPPs in 30 countries around the world today. A key
part of the history of uranium mining began in the 1940s when military requirements produced the first peak in
production. When these requirements were met, the industry went into decline until expectations of significant
additions of civil nuclear generating capacity sparked another surge in production.
Recent increases in global uranium mine output have been driven mainly by rapidly increasing production in
Kazakhstan. Public perception of uranium mining is largely based on the adverse health and environmental
impacts of past practices that took place during a largely unregulated early phase of the industry. During the
Cold War and the initial stages of the development of civilian nuclear power, uranium mining was conducted
mainly by governments (or companies under government contract) for strategic military purposes. The driving
force of the era was maximising production, with little regard for environmental consequences.

The special risks associated with uranium mining were implicitly evident as long ago as the early 16th century
when workers in the silver mines of central Europe, that are now known to contain uranium mineralization,
appeared to be more susceptible to pulmonary disorders than workers at other mines.
Concerns regarding operational practices are usually greater at uranium mines than elsewhere, although the
focus is on situations where workers are in immediate contact with the ore and processing streams. Over the
past decades, these concerns for worker health and safety have been the driving force for gradually tighter
controls and improved practices. Only in relatively recent times, however, have concerns been voiced over
impacts on public health and on the wider natural environment from the full range of operational activities
related to uranium mining and the rest of the nuclear fuel cycle. In the case of the natural environment, these
concerns include the risk of environmental degradation, contamination, reduced ecosystem viability and
biodiversity, aesthetics, public amenities, access to land, and quarantining of land for future beneficial land use.
Uranium mill tailings are of particular environmental concern because:
(a) They retain much of the radioactivity of the ore from which they were derived;
(b) Their radioactivity is very long lived;
(c) They contain a range of bio toxic heavy metals and other compounds;
(d) They may contain sulphide minerals which can generate acid mine drainage;
(e) Their granular to slime consistency makes them susceptible to leaching, erosion or collapse under various
conditions;
(f) The common method of surface disposal exposes a large surface area to the natural elements and thus
increases the risk of release of radiation flux, radioactive and geochemically toxic dusts, and interaction with
surface water systems;
(g) The large surface area of these generally thin tailings deposits (or ‘piles’) adversely affects large areas of land
and renders potentially valuable land c unfit for other uses.
1. SOURCES OF HUMAN HEALTH RISK AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
1.1. Risks From Mines
Any excavation, whether underground or open cast, is subject to degradation and may eventually collapse or
cave in. Open cast workings are subject to normal erosion forces leading to, for example, slope instability and
failure of rock walls, with the ensuing risks of injury and damage to adjacent property. The collapse of
underground workings cause damage at the surface to property and possible injury to the local population.
Unsealed mine shafts pose a risk of accidents to unsuspecting forest workers, hikers, etc. Abandoned adits might
invite people to enter and explore them, being unaware of the unsafe conditions.
Mine workings frequently extend below the groundwater table, thus providing direct pathways for interaction
with the atmosphere. The introduction of oxygen and resulting oxidation of sulphide minerals in the ore or host
rock will lead to the generation of acid mine drainage. The effects of acid drainage are discussed in the following
section. In turn, direct access to groundwaters also opens up pathways for the introduction of contaminants into
the groundwater.
The mining operations themselves have introduced contaminants into the (aqueous) environment. Examples
include degradation products of explosives, machinery oil or transformer fluids. There are also many forms of
chronic failure. These include:
(a) Dispersal of radioactive dust — uncovered residues are allowed to dry out, followed by wind blown
distribution of dust;
(b) Erosion of residues from the outer surfaces of the containment;
(c) Acid drainage through the floor and/or walls of the containment;
(d) Contaminated surface runoff draining into natural waterways.
Both acute and chronic events are commonly associated with non-radiological impacts related to heavy metals
and other toxic compounds in the tailings, pore water and decant water. The generation of acid drainage from
residues containing sulphide minerals is of particular concern because acid drainage tends to exacerbate the
probability of environmental contamination because of the solubility (and hence greater mobility) of many
metals under acidic conditions. It also affects the bioavailability of toxic metals and compounds.
Uranium mining and milling residue containments are no different from water containment dams in that regard.
Landslides involving uranium mining and milling residues have killed people and destroyed property. Although
other types of mining residues may also contain naturally occurring radioactive materials, the particular human
health risk that is associated with uranium mill tailings is the risk from radioactivity. In turn uranium mill tailings
may also pose risks associated with their inventory of heavy metals and other chemical elements, such as
arsenic.
1.1.1 Worker radiation
Workers in a uranium mining facility can be exposed to airborne radioactive contamination, like radon gas,
radon progeny and long-lived radioactive dust. They may also be exposed to external radiation, like gamma rays
from the ores, contaminated waste rock, or sludges and scales that accumulate in the mining or milling process.
The prevailing radionuclide in the uranium ore is uranium-238, and the prime source of radiation in uranium
mining and milling comes from the uranium-238 decay chain.
1.1.2 External gamma exposure
Uranium and its decay products have a range of gamma emitting radionuclides. Due to the comparatively higher
energy of gamma rays they have greater penetrating ability and thus influence worker doses in proximity to the
ore being mined and the vessels used in processing plants (mills). Exposure risks are low for the final uranium
product because gamma exposure rates are small due to gamma rays being both low intensity and low energy.
The most dominant contributor to gamma exposure in the final uranium oxide concentrate product is
protactinium-234. When uranium oxide is freshly produced, the gamma signature is reduced as it takes time for
protactinium concentrations to increase through radioactive decay (dominated by the 24-day half-life of
thorium-234). Gamma exposure rates increase over a couple of months and can be a more important
consideration during product transport.
1.1.3 Inhalation of long-lived alpha activity (LLAA)
Within the uranium decay series there are a number of LLAA isotopes that can be an issue. When dust arising
from uranium operations is inhaled, radioactivity may enter the lungs and be a source of internal exposure.
Depending on a range of physical properties such as solubility and particle size, this material can stay in various
areas of the lung, be removed from the body or be transferred to other areas in the body. These parameters,
along with the radionuclide and the activity inhaled, all influence the resultant dose from an exposure.

1.2. Environmental Impacts

Many articles in the literature purport to describe impacts on the natural environment from uranium mining in
general, and the placement/disposal and management/mismanagement of mill tailings in particular. However,
the description of environmental impact that most of these articles present is limited to a qualitative description
of impact in terms of contaminated soil, surface waters, groundwaters, lake sediments, etc. Any quantitative
description is usually given in terms of the area/volumes affected and concentrations of radioactive elements,
or activity levels and doses. A body of literature exists on the contamination of environmental media directly
linked to consumption and therefore potential uptake of radionuclides by humans, principally soils and water.
In contrast there are relatively few articles that set out to quantify the level of harm to the biosphere caused by
uranium mining and milling residues. Research into the biological impacts of the nuclear fuel cycle is a relatively
new science and is strongly biased towards research on the risks, hazards and impacts to humans from the fuel
fabrication, power generation and fuel reprocessing/disposal parts of the cycle. Biological impacts from the
uranium production include:
(a) fisheries in the vicinity of some uranium mines are deteriorating;
(b) radionuclides are taken up and concentrated by plants, thereby posing a potential risk to vegetation as well
as to animals higher in the food chain, including humans;
(c) radionuclides are taken up and concentrated by animals, thereby posing a potential risk to the health of
individuals, communities and ecosystems as well as animals higher in the food chain,
including humans;
(d) concentration of radionuclides in bottom sediments and their long term availability to bottom feeders and
potential for multiple cycling through the aquatic food chain over the long term;
(e) Development of transfer pathway models for the transfer of radiological dose through the food chain;
(f) tangible impacts on human health from radioactive contamination associated with uranium mines and tailings
piles may also be having significant impacts on the environment;
The impacts on the environment from uranium mining and milling residues are not all related to the radionuclide
content alone. The presence of other contaminants can exacerbate the availability of the radionuclides to the
environment, and in some cases the other contaminants have direct harmful effects in themselves. In this
regard, the potential for uranium mining and milling residues to cause environmental harm is little different
from that of other forms of mining, and the resultant impacts may be quite similar. Indeed it is not adequate to
consider the radiological risk only. The other effects include:
(1) The chemical toxicity of the radionuclides, including uranium;
(2) The chemical toxicity of heavy metals and metallic compounds;
(3) The chemical toxicity of non-metallic minerals and compounds in the ore or introduced during processing
(e.g. sulphuric acid, kerosene);
(4) Acidity, resulting from sulphidic (ore) minerals or acid introduced during milling;
(5) Increased turbidity in surface waters;
(6) Increased salinity.
The types of non-radiological contaminants that may cause harm are dependent on the mineralization in the
ore body, the gangue mineralogy, the overburden mineralogy and the processing technique used in the mill.
Elevated acidity plays a major role in increasing the mobility of metals in aqueous solution, including uranium,
as well as copper, arsenic, cadmium and other metals. The effects of heavy metal pollution are complex and
strongly dependent on local geographic and climatic factors, the mix of chemical constituents present, and on
the nature of the affected organisms. Effects can be lethal or non-lethal. Chronic sub-lethal poisoning can affect
growth, reproduction, behavioural patterns, and result in lower resistance to disease, as well as causing the
organism to have body concentrations of elements above standards permitted for consumption. In some
instances the non-radiological hazards have a much larger effect than the radiological contaminants.
1.2.1Degradation of water quality
Mining encounters water in or near mine workings, uses water in extraction processes and mining activities can
be undertaken in the proximity of water sources important to both human and non-human biota. Uranium
mining and milling may also be undertaken in dry regions, where water is not readily available for make-up or
process water and must be pumped into the site from a considerable distance. Alternatively, mining can be
undertaken in environments characterised by large amounts of seasonal rainfall, where management of excess
water periodically may require significant planning and effort. As a result of out-dated practices, environmental
impacts from historic uranium mining and processing sites in several countries include elevated concentrations
of trace metals (e.g. arsenic, copper and zinc), radium-226 and uranium in water. Draw down of groundwater
resources and groundwater quality impacts have also been observed.
Untreated site releases from historical operations have exposed populations of aquatic and terrestrial non-
human biota to elevated levels of radionuclides and other hazardous substances, leading to measureable food
chain impacts. Poorly planned and operated uranium mining facilities can produce more severe environmental
impacts when natural events such as seasonal runoff, intense rainfalls, earthquakes or droughts lead to the off-
site release of contaminants. Historically, some facilities were not adequately designed and constructed to
withstand such events. For example, the failure of an above-ground tailings facility dam could lead to significant
human health and environmental impacts due to the sudden release of significant amounts of ponded water,
solid tailings and sludges into rivers and lakes, onto roads or even into neighbouring communities. Some of the
most significant health impact legacies of these early operations were brought about by the widespread
distribution of site contaminants. Whether transported by bordering streams that are subsequently used for
irrigation and watering livestock, or by wind into neighbouring communities from waste piles or dried,
uncovered tailings, the health impacts can be chronic until remediation is undertaken.
1.2.2 Impact due to Tailings
Tailings are the waste product remaining after the extraction of a valuable element from the mined ore. In
extractive industries, the resultant tailings often represent the primary hazardous waste which must be
managed into the very long term. Tailings management broadly encompasses the chemical and physical
processes involved in the production and placement of tailings, and the development, operation and closure of
the facility into which the tailings are impounded. During the early days of mining, when environmental impacts
were neither understood nor an issue of concern to the public, few governments regulated environmental
aspects of mining and tailings management did not receive the necessary attention. This meant that the physical
and chemical composition of the tailings was not adequately controlled and tailings were simply placed in low-
lying areas, streams or lakes convenient to the processing facility. The most common event causing release of
contaminants from constructed tailings areas has been the overtopping of containment embankments or dams
due to excessive water inflow. In this respect the most susceptible are upstream valley types of dams and
impoundments that have the greatest risk of overtopping caused by receiving runoff from outside the
impoundment itself.
1.2.3 Impact due to waste rock
Waste rock can be classified as either clean or problematic. Waste rock, without enough of the mineral
of interest to be of commercial value, may however contain trace quantities of the target mineral, or
other minerals, which have the potential to adversely impact the environment. The presence of
sulphate or carbonate minerals is of particular concern. Weathering of waste rock containing such
minerals has the potential to alter the chemical properties of water which can have a direct
detrimental effect on the environment through acidification and by the potential to mobilise other
heavy metals in the waste rock or the environment. The flow of acidified water from mine sites is
generally referred to as acid rock (or mine) drainage (ARD or AMD). These issues are common to all
mining activities. Uranium mining, however, has the additional concern of radioactive elements in its
waste material. Hence, the mobility and effects of radionuclides in the environment must also be
considered

CONCLUSION
The process of extracting raw materials to meet societal demand disturbs the environment, can put workers in
potentially hazardous situations and can affect local residents. Past mining activities, conducted without
adequate regulatory control, have created problems in all these areas, but over the course of the last few
decades mining activities and mine development processes have significantly improved with the overarching
goal of minimising all impacts. Improvements have been accomplished through the development of increasingly
stringent regulatory requirements driven by societal expectations regarding the protection of people and the
environment, and through industry innovation. Although all types of mining have improved, the improvements
in uranium mining have been more dramatic because evolving societal expectations stemming from the serious
legacy health and environmental effects of the industry have resulted in the development of strong regulatory
controls. Leading practice mining companies have strived to not only meet regulatory requirements but to go
beyond them.
CASE STUDY
Impact of Uranium Mining and Processing on the Environment of
Mountainous areas of Kyrgyzstan
Introduction
During the last 100 years the territory of Kyrgyzstan served for the Czar Russia at the beginning and
later the USSR as one of the major minerals and raw materials base (radium, uranium and rear earth
elements). First findings of radioactive uranium. radium minerals in the mountains (Ferghan valley)
occurred at the same time as in Kuri couple at the end of XIX century (Aleshin and others, 2000).
Similar minerals were found in Teo . Moyunsky mine which is located 30 km on the South . West
from Osh city . From 1907 to 1913 820 000 kg of ores was mined from this uranium. Radium deposit,
655 000 kg was brought to St. Petersberg. The Teo.Moyunsky mine was an underground mine, at the
time of it.s closing the depth was more than 220 m. In the 40 th of the 20 century with the practical
implementation of atomic energy techniques mostly for military purposes a booming development
of uranium industry happened. At that time 10 uranium deposits in Shekaftar, Kyzyl.Jar, Mayly Suu,
Rishtan and other place were started out in Kyrgyzstan in the Northern bench of Ferghana valley.
Industrial exploitation of the large uranium deposit Mayly Suu started in 1945. The Lenynabad
(Ferghansky) chemical plant was build in 1947 in a very short period of time; Mayly Suu and
TeoMounsky mines were part of this complex, being the first soviet uranium production for military
purpose.
Dangerous geo-ecological processes in the area of storage of mine waste
The number of uranium mines, total amount of uranium waste and sizes of the tailings are relatively
small in comparison to USA, Canada, and East Germany. But due to natural phenomena of
mountainous landscape, character and scale of the impact of uranium industry products on the
environment is much higher in Kyrgyzstan.
Among unfavorable factors connected to the mining specifics are the following:
complex mountainous landscape (3-dimensional); high seismic and tectonic activity; instability of
slopes; variety and intensity of destructive natural processes in the mountains (erosion, denudation,
landslides, mudflows, extreme sediments and change of the climate); high destruction of
mountainous regions by geotechnical factors, especially during mining activities (Torgoev & Aleshyn
2001). Long time history of mining, milling and processing in Kyrgyzstan including uranium shows
that combination of above-mentioned factors and processes was often the reason of the accidents
in regional and global scale. The high probability of such cascade catastrophes is connected to the
fact that the majority of mines. were built on unstable mountain slopes. And radioactive dumps
were located adjacent to riverbeds due to lack of suitable places.
Landslide processes in Mayly Suu region started to develop in 1953 to 54, when underground works,
building of mining constructions and infrastructure measures were intensified. Around mines most
of the landslides were caused by underground voids with depth up to 30 - 40 m, and by dumps
constructed on unstable mountain surfaces. More than 50 different active landslide events within
the towns area were reported (Torgoev, 2001).
In Mayly Suu landslides developed in loess-like soils of the red color sandstone clay deposits of the
Massagetsky stage (oligocenic-miocen). The largest landslides with a volume of more than 1 million
m3 (Tectonic, Koy-Tash and others) happened on slopes that are related to sandstone-clay deposits
of the Cretaceous- Paleogenic with anticlinale folds in the upper slopes and sinclinale in the lower
part.
Contamination of the hydrosphere
Besides the narrow location of the radioactive waste sites to lakes and rivers there is also the poor
geotechnical constructions of the tailings, absence of hydro isolation and degradation of protective
constructions to mention. Especially old tailings from the time after the II World War tailings which
were build at the early stages of uranium mining from 1946 to 55 are of special concern. This period
of time is characterized by serious under estimation of ecological danger caused by uranium mining
and processing. Today it is clear that serious mistakes were made (Torgoev and Aleshyn 2001).
The beginning stage of uranium producing in Mayly Suu can be considered as an example. In the
valley of Maylyu Suu river, about 30 km from the border to Uzbekistan radioactive waste was stored
in 23 tailings and 13 dumps. The total volume of radioactive waste is 2 million m3 and the total
activity is 50 000 Ku. Investigations show that some tailings (3,5,7,8,9,10,18) and dumps in the
riverbed of Myly Suu are the reason of systematic radioactive contamination of the river due to poor
dam construction, high water content of the tailings and not reliable hydro-isolation.
Uranium concentrations in the water shown higher value than background with 4,4*10 -6 g/l above
the tailing#3 and 1,7 *10-2 g/l below tailing#3, that means several thousand times above background
concentration. 30 km from the tailing in the village of Madanyat, the uranium concentration in the
river water is still 10 - 15 times higher than the background with 1,8*10-5 g/l (Aleshyn and others
2000). In many cases seepage water from the tailing’s infiltrates into the ground water. This can be
shown on the example of uranium tailing in Kara Balta. (Torgoev and Aleshyn 2001). In spite of a
mighty aeration zone (up to 85 m) the ground water is contaminated with high level of sulphates,
nitrates and heavy metals. Within contaminated areas the sulfate and nitrate concentrations are 5-
8-fold the natural ones. An intensive contamination zone is spread on 15 km from the tailing and
being 100 - 120 m in depth. A change of the intensive contamination zone was determined in 1999
based on samples from ground waters. In the drill holes upstream the tailings the concentration of
uranium in the ground waters was found to be 0.008 mg/l, in the drills downstream the town
uranium concentrations reach up to 0.30 mg/l (Torgoev, Aleshyn 2001).
There are some major reasons of radioactive and toxic contamination of the soil and underground
water in the area of Kara Balty tailing. One of them is a loss of the quality of the tailings hydro-
isolation. Leaching rates from the tailing were calculated by balance method for 1996 to 1998 to be
70 to 100 m3 /year. In the area around Kadjy Say in the period of 1948 to 1966 uranium bearing coal
was mined for leaching of uranium oxide (U3 O8). During operation of the plant and after its
liquidation 400 000 m3 of waste were buried in the tailing and an ash dump. The tailing is located 1.5
km far from the coast of the mountainous lake Issyk Kul. area. This is the Djety Oguz radon spa and
beach by the village Jenish with radioactive monazite sand. Gamma radiation from cosmic rays is
0.466 mSv/a on the lake altitude (1608 m). Thus, in Issyk Kul province average amount of radiation
from the natural sources is 1.726 mSv/a, which is much smaller than the background value 5 mSv/a
(Mylius 1997).