Concepts and results in the uranium mill tailings remedial action ground water project

The Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Ground Water Project is responsible for bringing 22 former uranium millsites into compliance with ground water standards determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These standards require that contaminants in the ground water do not cause an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment. To bring the sites into regulatory compliance, the project framework uses available provisions in the standards that allow use of three compliance strategies: No further action, passive (natural flushing) remediation, and active-engineered remediation. Strategies are evaluated on a site-specific basis, and selection is based on site characteristics and conditions. (orig.)