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Uranium pollution in an estuary affected by pyrite acid mine drainage and releases of naturally occurring radioactive materials |
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| Authors: | Villa M Manjón G Hurtado S García-Tenorio R |
| Institution: | a Centro de Investigación, Tecnología e Innovación, Universidad de Sevilla CITIUS, Av. Reina Mercedes, 4B, 41012 Sevilla, Spain b Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Dpto. Sistemas Físicos Químicos y Naturales, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain c E.T.S. Arquitectura, Universidad de Sevilla, Dpto. Física Aplicada II, Av. Reina Mercedes, 2, 41012 Sevilla, Spain |
| Abstract: | After the termination of phosphogypsum discharges to the Huelva estuary (SW Spain), a unique opportunity was presented to study the response of a contaminated environmental compartment after the cessation of its main source of pollution. The evolution over time of uranium concentrations in the estuary is presented to supply new insights into the decontamination of a scenario affected by Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) discharges. The cleaning of uranium isotopes from the area has not taken place as rapidly as expected due to leaching from phosphogypsum stacks.An in-depth study using various techniques of analysis, including 234U/238U and 230Th/232Th ratios and the decreasing rates of the uranium concentration, enabled a second source of uranium contamination to be discovered. Increased uranium levels due to acid mine drainage from pyrite mines located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain) prevent complete uranium decontamination and, therefore, result in levels nearly twice those of natural background levels. |
| Keywords: | Sediments Pollution Pyrite acid mine drainage Uranium Phosphogypsum Decontamination |
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