Management of water collection and treatment in the remediation of an uranium mill tailings site

摘要

As of the-Mid 1990s remediation of former uranium mining and milling sites is under way including the geotechnical stabilisation of tailings storage facilities at Seelingstadt (Germany). With advancing remediation water management requirements evolve facing new challenges: changing chemical water composition, more restrictive concentration limits and shrinking water storage space while the treated water volume just slowly decreases. The paper outlines ways to adapt water collection and treatment strategies to the new challenges and points out the influence of water management on the physical remediation works. Lessons learned for similar remediation projects are presented to allow considering relevant aspects at an early stage of a mining legacy remediation planning.