Evaluation of radionuclide and trace metal migration beneath an inactive tailing impoundment

This paper reports on a study conducted at a uranium mill whose objective was to provide statistically reliable information on the possible migration of contaminants beneath several inactive tailing ponds which are in the process of being excavated and reclaimed. A hierarchical analysis of variance was used to evaluate the extent of contamination beneath the tailing ponds. The results indicate that excavating the top one foot of the existing profile would significantly reduce the levels of contamination of the study area. It is determined that concentrations of key parameters decrease rapidly with depth to apparent background concentrations at the deeper sample intervals