Meteorology and air quality
• Temperature
• Precipitation, relative humidity and evaporation
• Wind
• Severe weather (hurricanes, volcanoes, etc)
• Atmospheric stability
• Air quality
• Sound level Topography
Geology
• Local
• Regional (structure, stratigraphy) Water
• Surface waters and their quality
• Groundwaters and their quality (ore bearing)
• Groundwater and their quality (non-ore bearing)
• Surface hydrology
• Groundwater hydrology Demographics
• Population distribution (local, regional)
• Municipal services (Fire Protection, Medical Care, Security) Land use
• Agricultural activities
• Industrial activities
• Mining activities Soils
• Type/classification
• Trace metals Mineral resources/activities
• Uranium
• Oil and gas
• Coal
• Other mining Ecology
• Flora
• Fauna
• Avifauna
• Aquatic Biota
• Reptiles and Amphibians
• Endangered, threatened or other special status Background radiological characteristics
• Well fields (surface, sub-surface)
• Utilities
• Liquid disposal systems
• Solid waste disposal systems
• Employee facilities (housing, medical, dining, recreation) Principle Features and Procedures
• Exploration drilling
• Development testing
• Water Balance
• Process descriptions
o Well field operations o Uranium recovery o Yellowcake production o Drying and packaging o Water treatment o Solid waste treatment o Sanitary system treatment o Water supply and utilities o Monitoring and control systems
• Hazardous chemicals
• Fire Hazards
• Topsoil protection
• Radiation protection
• Employee health and safety
• Spill prevention
Restoration, reclamation and decommissioning
• Groundwater restoration
• Surface/soils reclamation
• Contaminated equipment (decontamination, disposal)
• Facilities closure and decommissioning
Effluent control systems
• Air emissions
• Radon emissions
• Liquid wastes
• Solid wastes
• Noise control
• Human wastes Monitoring Systems
• Production zone monitor wells
• Overlying zone monitor wells
• Underlying zone monitor wells
• Pipelines
• Well casing integrity
• Airborne chemical emission
• Airborne radiometric emission
• Health physics Transportation
• Chemicals spills
• Yellowcake spills
• Employees (air travel, roads)
• Leaching and production fluids spills
• Highway (offsite) traffic accidents
• Security Social/Economic Impact
• Effect on local communities
• Effect on regional/national level
• Effect on cultural resources
REFERENCES
[1] ACKLAND, M.C., HUNTER, T.C., “Australia’s Honeymoon Project: From acquisition to approval — 1997 to 2002” in Recent Developments in Uranium Resources and Production with Emphasis on In Situ Leach Mining, IAEA-TECDOC-1396 (Proc.Tech.
Mtg. Beijing, September 2002), International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (2004) 115–137.
[2] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Manual of Acid in situ Leach Uranium Mining Technology, IAEA-TECDOC-1239, Vienna (2001).
[3] STANDARDS AUSTRALIA “Australian/New Zealand Standard Risk Management (AS/NZS 4360:2004)” and “HB 436 Risk Management Guidelines” Australia (2004).www.standards.com.au.
[4] SADAR, M.H., and Associates, Environmental Impact Assessment, Carleton University Press for the Impact Assessment Centre, Carleton University Ottawa, Canada (1995).
[5] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Radiation Monitoring in the Mining and Milling of Radioactive Ores, Safety Series No 95. STI/PUB/776, A joint report by IAEA, ILO and WHO, (1989).
[6] INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Safety Series No. 115, International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources, Jointly sponsored by FAO, IAEA, ILO, OECD/NEA, PAHO, WHO, (1996).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BEVERLEY URANIUM MINE,. Environmental Impact Statement, Heathgate Resources Pty Ltd, June (1998).
DOOLEY, B.L., COLGAN P.J., BURNS, P.A., Regulatory Assessment of Risk to the Environment, (2004).
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, Draft environmental impact statement to construct and operate the Crownpoint Uranium Solution Mining Project, New Mexico, NUREG–1508 (1994).
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, Draft Standard Review Plan for In Situ Leach Uranium Extraction. License Applications. NUREG-1569 (2002).
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Environmental Impact Assessment for Uranium Mine, Mill and In Situ Leach Projects, IAEA-TECDOC-979, Vienna (1997).
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Guidebook on Good Practice in the management of Uranium Mining and Mill Operations and the Preparation for their Closure, IAEA-TECDOC-1059, Vienna (1998).
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, The Uranium Production Cycle and the Environment, Proceedings of an International Symposium held in Vienna, October (2000).
OECD/NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY/ INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Uranium 2001 – Resources, Production and Demand, OECD, Paris (2002).
OECD/NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY/ INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Uranium 2003 – Resources, Production and Demand, OECD, Paris (2004).
SMITH, D.B., VAN DER WANSEM, M., Strengthening EIA capacity in Asia:
Environmental impact assessment in the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, World Resources Institute (1995).
STOVER, D.E., “Smith Ranch ISL uranium facility: The wellfield management programme”
in Recent Developments in Uranium Resources and Production with Emphasis on In Situ Leach Mining, IAEA-TECDOC-1396 (Proc.Tech. Mtg. Beijing, September 2002), International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (2004) 189–203.
Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, Guidelines, No. 4: In Situ Mining (1994).
GLOSSARY
Acid leaching The leaching of useful components from ores using acidic solutions (usually sulphuric acid). Normally restricted to ore with a low carbonate (<2%) content.
ALARA An acronym for “as low as reasonably achievable”, a concept meaning that the design and use of nuclear facilities, and in the practices associated with them, need to be such as to ensure that exposures are kept as low as reasonably practicable, with technical, economic and social factors being taken into account.
Alkaline leaching The leaching of useful components from ores, using carbonate and/or bicarbonate solutions.
Aquifer (1) porous water-bearing formation (bed or stratum) of permeable rock, sand, or gravel capable of yielding usable quantities of water. (2) a permeable (water-bearing) geological formation (rock, bed or a part of it) containing, compared with its surroundings, relatively significant quantities of water.
Assessment (1) An analysis to predict the performance of an overall system and its impact, where the performance measure is radiological impact or some other global measure of impact on safety. (2) The process, and the result, of analysing systematically the hazards associated with sources and practices, and associated protection and safety measures, aimed at quantifying performance measures for comparison with criteria. (3) Activities carried out to determine that requirements are met and that processes are adequate and effective, and to encourage managers to implement improvements, including safety improvements.
Background (1) The constituents or parameters and the concentrations or measurements, which describe the operating environment prior to any operation. Also be termed baseline. (2) As relates to radiological safety, natural background is the doses, dose rates or activity concentrations associated with natural sources or any other sources in the environment, which are not amenable to control.
Baseline study A study collecting all relevant information such as geological, biological data prior to an industrial project.
Best practicable technology (BPT)
A technology based process justifiable in terms of existing performance and achievability (in relation to heath and safety) which minimizes, to the extent safe and practicable, disturbances and adverse impacts of the operation on human or animal life, fish, wildlife, plant life and related environmental values.
Borehole; drillhole A cylindrical excavation, made by a rotary drilling device. Boreholes are drilled during exploration for and delineation of uranium deposits.
Confined aquifer An aquifer that is overlain by a confining bed, where the hydrostatic pressure at the top of the aquifer is greater than atmospheric pressure.
Decommissioning Actions taken at the end of the useful life of a nuclear facility other than a disposal facility in retiring it from service with adequate regard for the health and safety of workers and members of the public and protection of
the environment. Ultimate goal of decommissioning is unrestricted release or use of the site. The use of the term decommissioning implies that no further use of the facility (or part thereof) for its existing purpose is foreseen.
Deposit Mineral deposit or ore deposit is used to designate a natural occurrence of a useful mineral, or an ore, in sufficient extent and degree of concentration to invite exploitation.
Development To open up an orebody as by sinking shafts and driving drifts or developing wells (for in situ leach mines), as well as installing the requisite equipment.
Disposal The emplacement of waste in an approved, specified facility (e.g. near surface or geological repository) without the intention of retrieval.
Disposal may also include the approved direct discharge of effluents (e.g.
liquid and gaseous wastes) into the environment with subsequent dispersion.
Drilling fluid (mud) A water- or air-based fluid used in the water-well drilling operation to remove cuttings from the hole, to clean and cool the bit, to reduce friction between the drill string and the sides of the hole, and to seal the borehole.
Effective Porosity A porosity index characterizing the specific total capacity of rock, taking into account the physical-chemical interactions of the solution component under study.
Effluent A waste liquid, solid, or gas, in its natural state or partially or completely treated, that discharges into the environment.
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment.
EIS Environmental Impact Statement.
Endangered species A distinct class of animal or plant in danger of extinction, meaning their survival is in serious doubt.
Environmental impact assessment
A process in which environmental factors are integrated into project planning and decision making. A process of evaluating the environmental implications of a development project before irrevocable decisions are made.
Environmental impact
The expected effects of the projects upon the environment.
Environmental impact statement
A statement of the expected effects of the project upon the environment, the conditions (if any) that need to be observed to void or satisfactorily manage any potentially adverse effects of the project and the economic social and other consequences of carrying the project into effect.
Excursion Spreading of the solutions beyond the perimeter of an ISL site or operation block under the forces of subterranean hydrodynamics. It may be controlled and mitigated by creating a local cone of depression by pumping which causes an influx of the groundwater from the surrounding area.
Groundwater restoration
The condition achieved when the quality of all groundwater affected by the injection of recovery fluids is returned to a quality of use equal to or better than, and consistent with the uses for which the water was suitable prior to the operation by employing the best practicable technology.
Grout (cement) (1) to fill, or the material filling, the space around the pipe in a well, usually between the pipe and the drilled hole. The material is ordinarily a mixture of Portland cement and water. syn. cement. (2) a fluid mixture of cement and water (neat cement) of a consistency that can be forced through a pipe and placed as required. Various additives, such as sand, bentonite, and hydrated lime, may be included in the mixture to meet certain requirements. Bentonite and water are sometimes used for grout.
Hydraulic conductivity
The capacity of a rock to transmit water. It is expressed as the volume of water at the existing kinematic viscosity that will move in unit time under a unit hydraulic gradient through a unit area measured at right angles to the direction of flow.
Hydraulic gradient The change in static head or hydraulic potential per unit distance in a given direction.
Hydrology The science dealing with water standing or flowing on or beneath the surface of the earth.
In situ leaching (1) a chemical method of recovering useful components directly underground, using reagent solutions and pumping the productive solutions to the surface for further treatment and recovery of the useful components. (2) the extraction of uranium from the host sandstone by chemical solutions and the recovery of uranium at the surface. ISL extraction is conducted by injecting a suitable leach solution into the ore zone below the water table; oxidizing, complexing, and mobilizing the uranium; recovering the pregnant solutions through production wells; and, finally, pumping the uranium bearing solution to the surface for further processing.
Injection Feeding a leaching solution or water into underground strata through cased wells.
Injection well A well used to deliver liquids (leaching solution or water) into a productive aquifer.
Ion exchange Reversible exchange of ions contained in a crystal for different ions in solution without destruction of crystal structure or disturbance of electrical neutrality. The process is accomplished by diffusion and occurs typically in crystals possessing one or two dimensional channel ways where ions are relatively weakly bonded. Also occurs in resins consisting of three dimensional hydrocarbon networks to which are attached many ionizable groups. Method used for recovering uranium from leaching solutions.
ISL In situ leaching. The in-place mining of a mineral without removing over-burden or ore, by installing a well and mining directly from the natural deposit thereby exposed to the injection and recovery of a fluid that causes the leaching, dissolution, or extraction of the mineral.
Law A rule established by authority, society or custom.
Leaching well A well used in the ISL process.
(1) Injection wells feed the leach solution into the formation, and recovery wells deliver the pregnant solution to the surface. (2) A cased and cemented hole with equipment installed to inject or recover fluids.
Legislation (a) The process of making laws. (b) Laws collectively.
License A formal, legally prescribed document issued to an applicant (i.e. operating organization) by the regulatory body to perform specified activities related to the siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning of a nuclear facility, closure of a disposal facility, closeout of a mining and mill tailings site, or institutional control.
Licensee The holder of a license issued by the regulatory body to perform specific activities related to the sitting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning of a nuclear facility, closure of a disposal facility, closeout of a mining and mill tailings site, or institutional control.
The applicant becomes the licensee after it received a license issued by the regulatory body.
Mechanical Integrity Test (MIT)
Injection and recovery wells need to be tested for mechanical integrity. To inspect for casing leaks after a well has been completed and opened to the aquifer, a packer is set above the well screen, and each well casing is filled with water. At the surface, the well is pressurized with either air or water to 25% above the expected operating pressure. A well is satisfactory if a pressure drop of less than 10% occurs over 1 hour.
Mineral A naturally occurring inorganic solid substance with a characteristic chemical composition.
Mineral lease See mining lease.
Mineral right The ownership of the minerals under a given surface, with the right to enter thereon, mine, and remove them. It may be separated from the surface ownership, but, if not so separated by distinct conveyance, the latter includes it.
Mining lease A legal contract for the right to work a mine and extract the mineral or other valuable deposits from it under prescribed conditions of time, price, rental or royalties. Also called mineral lease.
Mitigation An action aimed at reducing the severity, avoiding, or controlling impacts of a project through design alternatives, scheduling, or other means.
Mitigating measures
Actions that decrease the effect of a project on the environment.
Monitoring (1) Maintain regular surveillance over a mining or milling site and its surroundings. (2) The measurement of dose or contamination for reasons related to the assessment or control of exposure to radiation or radioactive substances, and the interpretation of the results. (3) Continuous or periodic measurement of radiological or other parameters or determination of the status of a system.
Monitor
(observation) well
(1) a well used to measure the hydrostatic level and/or chemical and radiological composition of underground waters. (2) a surveillance (observation) well located usually along the periphery of a well field,
either around the periphery of the mine zone or in overlying or underlying aquifers. It is used to indicated contaminant and/or lixiviant migration beyond the well field boundary.
Natural background
(1) The normal abundance (or background) of chemical or radiological species within a specific area. (2) The dose, dose rates or activity concentrations associated with natural sources or any other sources, which are not amenable to control.
Ore A mineral or combination of minerals found in nature, usually mixed with other substances. By convention, ORE denotes economically recoverable quantities of one or more minerals.
Permeability (1) The ability of rock or soil to transmit fluid (such as water) under a hydraulic gradient (comp. Intrinsic permeability, Hydraulic conductivity).
(2) The ability of rocks to pass liquids and gases, expressed in DARCY units. The rocks permeability for water (solutions) is generally expressed by FILTRATION COEFFICIENT, accounting for the permeability of rock per se and the physical properties of filtration liquid (density and viscosity).
Piezometric surface Real surface (open aquifer) or false (confined aquifer) where water pressure equals the atmospheric pressure.
Porosity The voids or openings in a rock. Porosity may be expressed quantitatively as the ratio of the volume of openings in a rock to the total volume of the rock.
Producing aquifer An aquifer containing ores, that can be worked by ISL.
Public hearings The action by which the public has an opportunity to state its view regarding a project.
Radiation protection
Measures associated with limitation of the harmful effects of ionizing radiation on people, such as limitation of external exposure to such radiation, limitation of incorporation of radionuclides as well as the prophylactic limitation of injury resulting from either of these. Also called as radiological protection.
Radioactivity Property of certain atoms to undergo spontaneous random disintegration in which energy is liberated, generally resulting in the formation of new nuclides. The process is accompanied by the emission of one or more types of radiation, such as alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays.
Radionuclide A nucleus (on an atom) that possesses properties of spontaneous disintegration (radioactivity). Nuclei are distinguished by their mass and atomic number.
Radon Chemically inert radioactive gaseous element formed from the decay of radium or thorium (which is then called thoron). A potential health hazard.
Records A set of documents, including instrument charts, certificates, log books, computer printouts and magnetic tapes kept at each nuclear facility and organized in such a way that they provide a complete and objective past and present representation of facility operations and activities including all phases from design through closure and decommissioning (if the
facility has been decommissioned). Records are an essential part of quality assurance.
Recovery Pumping groundwaters or production solutions to the surface to obtain valuable mineral components in commercial quantities.
Recovery solution The solution pumped to the surface through recover or production wells.
It is formed underground as the result of physical-chemical inter-actions between the leaching solution and the rock mass being leached, and contains useful (minable) components in commercial concentrations.
Recovery well A well used to lift subsurface fluids to the surface.
Reclamation Process of restoring surface environment to acceptable pre-existing conditions. Includes surface contouring, equipment removal, well plugging, revegetation, etc.
Regulatory body An authority or a system of authorities designated or otherwise recognized by the government of a country or state as having legal authority for conducting the licensing process, for issuing licenses and thereby for regulating the siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, safety closure, closeout, decommissioning and, if required, subsequent institutional control of the nuclear facilities (e.g. near surface repository) or specific aspects thereof. This authority could be a body (existing or to be established) in the field of nuclear related health and safety, mining safety, mining safety or environmental protection vested and empowered with such legal authority.
Remediation (cleanup)
Action taken to reduce a radiation dose that might otherwise be received in an intervention situation involving chronic exposure, when a specified action level is exceeded. Examples are: (a) Actions that include decontamination, waste removal and environmental restoration of site during decommissioning and/or closeout efforts. (b) Actions taken beyond stabilization of tailings impoundments to allow for other uses of the area or to restore the area to near pristine condition. Actions can be applied to contamination itself or to the exposure pathways to humans.
Reversal of flow Changing the direction of leach solution flow between wells by making injection wells recovery wells, and vice versa, to improve recovery.
Restoration (groundwater)
(1) The returning of all affected groundwater to its pre-mining quality for its pre-mining use. (2) (Russian usage) restoring natural waters following decommissioning.
Risk (a) In general, risk is the probability or likelihood of a specified event occurring within a specified period or in specified conditions.
(b) In the safety assessment of radioactive materials, risk may be used as a measure of safety. In this context it is defined as the product of the probability that an individual is exposed to a particular radiation dose and the probability of a health effect arising from that dose.
(b) In the safety assessment of radioactive materials, risk may be used as a measure of safety. In this context it is defined as the product of the probability that an individual is exposed to a particular radiation dose and the probability of a health effect arising from that dose.