Characterization relationship between multinuclide nonequilibrium gamma radiation dose rate and 226Ra activity concentration in contaminated soil around uranium mines.

According to the characteristics of contaminated soil around uranium mines, combined with the pollution path of soil, the response relationship between the gamma radiation dose rate and radium activity concentration in contaminated soil was proposed by using a numerical model and subequilibrium theory. The results showed that the topsoil (depth 20 cm) made the mainly contribution of gamma dose rate (above 88%), and the main nuclide of concern was radium. Additionally, the uranium-radium equilibrium coefficient between 0 and 0.3 had a great influence on the gamma dose rate. The method proposed in this study could quickly identify the radium activity concentration in topsoil by using on-site gamma dose rate monitoring data. Compared with the actual monitoring results within ±10% error control, which had strong operability. This method could quickly identify the location and scope of contaminated soil and guide the on-site monitoring points around uranium mines.

The chemical damage of sandstone after sulfuric acid-rock reactions with different duration times and its influence on the impact mechanical behaviour.

The low-permeability characteristic of sandstone-type uranium deposits has become the key geological bottleneck during the in-situ leaching mining, seriously restricting the development and utilization of uranium resources in China. At present, the blasting-enhanced permeability (BEP) and acidizing-enhanced permeability (AEP) are confirmed to be mainstream approaches to enhance the reservoir permeability of low-permeability sandstone-type uranium deposit (LPSUD). To clarify the synergistic effect of BEP and AEP, the acid-rock reaction and dynamic impact experiments were conducted, aiming to study the effect of chemical reactions on pore structure, dynamic mechanical properties and failure pattern of sandstone. Results show that with the increasing acid-rock reaction time, the total pore volume of samples is promoted largely and exhibits obvious chemical damage. The change of pore volume depends on the pore size, the 100-1000 nm and 1000-10000 nm pores are more susceptible to acid-rock reactions. The dynamic peak strength and the dynamic elastic modulus are decreased and the dynamic peak strain and strain rate are increased when lengthening the acid-rock reaction time, whose evolution laws can be fitted by the logistic expression, the linear expression and the exponential expression, respectively. The acid-rock reactions also have an influence on the fracture development of samples after the dynamic impact. The damaged fractures on the end faces of samples grow from the isolated short fracture, the isolated long fracture to the fracture network, and the damaged fractures on the sides of samples develop from the non-penetration fractures, penetration fractures to the multi-branch fractures. This study clarifies the physical and chemical combined damage mechanism, demonstrates the potential of reservoir stimulation by uniting the BEP and the AEP, and provides a theoretical reference for the reservoir stimulation of LPSUD.

Macroscopic and spectroscopic characterization of U(VI) sorption on biotite.

Knowledge of the geochemical behavior of uranium is critical for the safe disposal of radioactive wastes. Biotite, a Fe(II)-rich phyllosilicate, is a common rock-forming mineral and a major component of granite or granodiorite. This work comprehensively studied the sorption of U(VI) on biotite surface with batch experiments and analyzed the uranium speciation with various spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and time-resolved fluorescence spectra (TRFS). Our results indicated that uranyl ions could penetrate into the interlayer of biotite, this ion-exchange process was pH-dependent and only favorable under acidic condition. Instead of precipitation or reduction to uraninite, the TRFS results strongly suggests U(VI) forms surface complexes under the neutral and alkaline condition, though the number and structure of surface species could not be identified accurately. Besides, the oxidation of biotite with peroxide hydrogen showed that structural Fe(II) would have a very low redox reactivity. With leaching experiments, zeta potential analysis and thermodynamics calculation, we discussed the possible reasons for inhibition of U(VI) reduction at the biotite-water interface. Our results may provide insight on interaction mechanism of uranium at mineral-water interface and help us understand the migration behavior of uranium in natural environments.