Environmental impact evaluation of a pilot installation for in situ processing for uranium ore.

An investigation of the area around the former Ilisova uranium mines and pilot in-situ leaching plant, located 50 m from the Danube in a SW Romanian national park, included field measurement of gamma radiation, rock sampling and analysis for U, Ra, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and Co, water sampling, determination of radon levels and the collecting of water, soil, sediment and vegetation samples from around the pilot plant. Cumulative doses were calculated on the basis of 5 months' exposure each year for 6 hours/day, as the houses in the area are for summer use only. The results showed that the plant activities had contaminated about 7 000 m2 of the surface as well as part of the groundwater of the former ore deposit. The highest risk to the population is from the concrete tank, which still contains amounts of ore, and the surface of the former ore deposit, which could at any time be used for picnicing by visitors to the national park.
An investigation of the area around the former Ilisova uranium mines and pilot in-situ leaching plant, located 50 m from the Danube in a SW Romanian national park, included field measurement of gamma radiation, rock sampling and analysis for U, Ra, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and Co, water sampling, determination of radon levels and the collecting of water, soil, sediment and vegetation samples from around the pilot plant. Cumulative doses were calculated on the basis of 5 months' exposure each year for 6 hours/day, as the houses in the area are for summer use only. The results showed that the plant activities had contaminated about 7 000 m2 of the surface as well as part of the groundwater of the former ore deposit. The highest risk to the population is from the concrete tank, which still contains amounts of ore, and the surface of the former ore deposit, which could at any time be used for picnicing by visitors to the national park.