US EPA

1379683 

Technical Report 

Untersuchung zur Abwasserreinigung im Rahmen eines Sanierungskonzeptes fuer die stillgelegte Uranaufbereitungsanlage Crossen der SDAG Wismut. Schlussbericht. (Studies on the purification of waste water within a concept for reclaimation of the closed uranium mill Crossen of SDAG Wismut. Final report) 

Stermann, HP; Boje, EW 

1991 

NTIS/02972728 

GRA and I 

GRA and I 

Large quantities of waste resulted from the almost 40 years' operation of the uranium ore processing plant Crossen. Apart from a separate rock pile, the waste streams from the milling/leaching process were pumped to an industrial sedimentation plant consisting of 3 tailing ponds. These ponds cover an area of about 230 ha containing some 57 million m(sup 3) of sludge and 4.3 million m(sup 3) approximately of free water. Remediation work of the tailing ponds requires for example the removal of the contaminants from the free water to an extent that the resulting water quality is acceptable for discharge into the main canal. Also seepage water from the ponds and other contamined surface water must be equally treated. Laboratory experiments with original waste water samples were conducted on order to determine suitable process equipment by which the specified water conditions can be met. Mainly the retention efficiency for the radioactive elements Radium and Uranium as well as for the toxic Arsenic was used for systems evaluation. The results of the bench-scale testing show that the concentration of the aforementioned contaminants can be reduced to the required low permissible values by means of a reverse osmosis system as the main waste water treatment step. The values of all other dissolved contaminants can be kept within limits. Further, proposals for semi-technical (pilot) and technical plants for waste water treatment are presented and weighted. In addition, some preliminary thoughts are given on the possibility of conditioning, recycling and disposal of the solid compounds from the water. (orig.) With 11 refs., 19 tabs., 18 figs. (ERA citation 17:029702) 

Settling Ponds; *Waste Water; *Water Pollution Control; Arsenic Compounds; Decontamination; Ore Enrichment; Osmosis; Pilot Plants; Radium Compounds; Remedial Action; Uranium Compounds; Uranium Ores; Water Pollution; Foreign technology; *Ore processing; EDB/540330