Kakadu mine: risk of uranium leakage could be greater than thought
Kakadu mine: risk of uranium leakage could be greater than thought
Study shows the radioactive particles can escape into the environment, raising alarms about the national park
Oliver Milman
theguardian.com, Wednesday 18 December 2013 02.47 EST
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A study published in Nature Communications found that seemingly immobile uranium particles piggybacked onto iron and organic material and flowed into a stream that joined a wetland in France.
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This research is extremely significant as strategies thought to control uranium migration in some circumstances dont work, he told Guardian Australia. Thats really problematic. It shows that we need to go back to the drawing board, look at all the factors involved in the mobilisation of uranium and have a rethink.
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Before, we knew that one form of uranium, uranium oxide, could move in the environment and to prevent it from moving we transformed it to uranium 4, she said. Once we did that we could stop worrying about it because it wouldnt go anywhere.
What we found is that particles, under special conditions, can move into groundwater and spread around. It needs to be an organic-rich environment, there needs to be iron and an absence of sulphate for this to happen.
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http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/18/ranger-mine-risk-of-uranium-leakage-could-be-greater-than-thought
Ooops.