Development of synthetic scenarios to assess the transfer of radionuclides to groundwater from liquid discharges in NORM industries

IF 2.1 3区环境科学与生态学 Q3 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Journal of environmental radioactivity Pub Date : 2026-05-01 DOI:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2026.108011

J. Guillén, L. Cabezas-Vinagre, A. Salas

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

By-products and wastes from NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) industries usually present enhanced concentration of naturally occurring radionuclides. Some of them are liquid, such as water from acid drainage sites, uranium mine tailings, or phosphogypsum ponds. There is considerable variability in the types of locations, size of water bodies, radionuclide concentration, type of water, hydrogeochemical characteristics of the site that can have a significant influence on the transfer of naturally occurring radionuclides to groundwater. Therefore, their occurrence in groundwater can pose a radiological hazard, since it can be used for irrigation, watering animals or drinking water, among others. In this study, we developed three different synthetic/theoretical scenarios in which most of these parameters are fixed after consulting the corresponding literature. Two scenarios are based on uranium tailings and a phosphogypsum stack with high radionuclide concentration that percolates into an aquifer; whereas in the third scenario the source term is a leaking pipe in the ground above the aquifer. The purpose of these scenarios is to determine the influence of several variables on the transfer of naturally occurring radionuclides to groundwater used for human consumption.

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制定综合方案，以评估NORM工业的液体排放中放射性核素向地下水的转移

来自NORM（天然存在的放射性物质）工业的副产品和废物通常会增加天然存在的放射性核素的浓度。其中一些是液体，如酸性排水场地、铀矿尾矿或磷石膏池的水。地点类型、水体大小、放射性核素浓度、水的类型、场址的水文地球化学特征等方面存在相当大的变化，这些变化对自然产生的放射性核素向地下水的转移有重大影响。因此，它们在地下水中的存在可能造成放射性危害，因为地下水可用于灌溉、浇灌动物或饮用水等。在本研究中，我们在查阅了相应的文献后，开发了三种不同的综合/理论场景，其中大多数参数是固定的。两种情景是基于铀尾矿和磷石膏堆，其放射性核素浓度高，渗入含水层；而在第三种情况中，源项是地下含水层上方的泄漏管道。这些情景的目的是确定若干变量对自然发生的放射性核素向供人类消费的地下水转移的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of environmental radioactivity 环境科学-环境科学

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

13.00%

发文量

209

审稿时长

73 days

期刊介绍： The Journal of Environmental Radioactivity provides a coherent international forum for publication of original research or review papers on any aspect of the occurrence of radioactivity in natural systems. Relevant subject areas range from applications of environmental radionuclides as mechanistic or timescale tracers of natural processes to assessments of the radioecological or radiological effects of ambient radioactivity. Papers deal with naturally occurring nuclides or with those created and released by man through nuclear weapons manufacture and testing, energy production, fuel-cycle technology, etc. Reports on radioactivity in the oceans, sediments, rivers, lakes, groundwaters, soils, atmosphere and all divisions of the biosphere are welcomed, but these should not simply be of a monitoring nature unless the data are particularly innovative.