Assessment of Natural Uranium in the Ground Water around Jaduguda Uranium Mining Complex, India

Abstract

Ground water ecosystem surrounding the uranium processing facility at Jaduguda, India has been studied for natural uranium distribution. Annual intake of uranium through drinking water for members of public residing around the uranium complex is found to be in the range of 41.8 Bquy<sup>–1</sup> - 44.4 Bquy<sup>–1</sup>. The intake and ingestion dose is appreciably low (<2 Sv.y<sup>–1</sup>) which is far below the WHO recommended level of 100 uSv.y<sup>–1</sup>. The excess life time radiological risk due to uranium natural in drinking water is insignificant and found to be of the order of 10<sup>–6</sup>. Even the highest concentration of uranium was found to be 28 ug.l<sup>–1</sup> is away (at 1.5 to 5 km distance) from mining industry and well below the acceptable limit. The ground water in the area around the uranium facility is not affected by the mining activity. The ground water in three zones is safe and reflects the natural distribution of uranium

A study of natural uranium content in groundwater around Tummalapalle uranium mining and processing facility, India

“…Sahoo et al, has been reported U concentration in the range of 0.1-19.6 lg l -1 in the drinking water samples collected from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala etc. [13], U concentration around uranium mining and processing facility of the Jaduguda, Jharkhand has been reported in the range of 0.5-28 lg l -1 [15] and around Narwapahar U mine in Jharkhand it has been in the range of 0.1-3.75 lg l -1 [14]. Further around the proposed U mining sites located at Lambapur and Pedagattu in the Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh, it has been reported in the range of 0.2-77.4 lg l -1 [18].…”

“…Taking the geometric mean of the measured U concentration, the annual effective dose due to intake of only U through drinking water pathway to the member of the public was estimated to be 16.75 l Sv year -1 , which is found to be well below the recommended dose limits of 100 l Sv year -1 as per WHO [21] and it is about 5.6 % of the global average annual ingestion dose [6]. In India, [13][14][15] reported mean annual ingestion doses in the different parts of the country are 3.5, 0.99 and 2 l Sv year -1 , respectively which are slightly less in comparison to the present study.…”

“…In India several studies have also been conducted to estimate natural U concentrations in groundwater around different proposed and operational U deposits and also in general areas where a wide range of U concentrations have been reported. [13][14][15][16][17][18]. The major objectives of the present study are to estimate U concentration in groundwater in the surrounding environment of the U mining and processing facility and associated health risk, if any, to local population through ingestion of water.…”

Simulation Model for Feasibility Studies on Bioremediation of Uranium Mill Tailings using Hyper Accumulator <i>Chrysopogon zizanioides</i>

“…The estimation of uranium in the plant, soil, mill tailing and water samples was carried out by UVFluorometer following the processing of the samples by Sethy et al (2011. The emitted fluorescence intensity of 5,546A° that is unique for uranium was measured using a UV-Fluorimeter (Electronics Corporation of India Limited, Hyderabad Model: FL6224A) with an excitation wavelength 3,650A°. The intensity of fluorescence is directly proportional to the quantity of uranium present in the sample.…”

“…The Jaduguda mine has been the site of uranium mining and milling for more than four decades (Sethy et al, 2011), operating since 1967 providing the basic raw material required to cater the energy requirement of the country (Sarangi, 2003). The uranium mill tailing ponds at Jaduguda and Turamdih receive processed waste from ores mined at the six mine stations at Jharkhand namely Jaduguda, Bagjata, Bhatin and Turamdih, Narwapahar, Banduhurang.…”