Treatment of Uranium-Contaminated Waters Using Organic-Based Permeable Reactive Barriers

摘要

A literature review and screening study suggest the feasibility of using low-cost organic materials within a permeable reactive barrier (PRB) to treat uranium-contaminated water. Natural peat deposits remove and sequester uranium from ground water under certain geochemical conditions while several species of bacteria, including Desulfovibrio desulfuricans precipitate soluble uranium from solution. Cation exchange capacities were measured for sawdust and peat, materials to be used in construction of a small-scale PRB. Results of a literature review and the cation exchange capacity measurements suggest that organic materials, such as peat, can be used to remove soluble uranium from contaminated water.