Field experiment on 222Rn flux from reclaimed uranium tailings

Design and construction techniques are described for a 1.6 ha experimental uranium mill tailings reclamation plot. A passive, activated charcoal device was developed and tested for measurements of radon flux. Experiments on radon flux versus overburden depth showed that tailings covered with 1.5 m of revegetated or 0.3 m of bare overburden had exhalation rates comparable to background. Vegetated subplots exhibited a significantly higher (often an order of magnitude) flux than the bare subplots. Results on the variation of flux over time did not reveal any definitive patterns, possibly due to the high variability among replicates. A positive correlation was demonstrated between precipitation and radon flux. This is discussed in detail and possibly explained by the increase in water content of the micropores within the tailings, which increases the emanation coefficient without adversely effecting the diffusion coefficient of the overburden. 30 references, 7 figures, 3 tables