Transporting the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings to White Mesa Mill by Slurry Pipeline

摘要

The Atlas Minerals Corp. uranium ore processing mill was located on the west bank of the Colorado River, about three miles northwest of Moab, Utah (see Fig. 1). Processing more than 10 million tons of ore at the Atlas mill generated the pile of tailings that is now the object of final closure and remediation investigations by the U.S. Department of Energy. The pile covers approximately 130 acres, rises 90 feet above the river terrace, and is approximately 750 ft from the river (see Fig. 2). The total volume of mill tailings, which are fine-grained silty sands or clayey silts, is reported to be approximately 10.5 million tons of actual processed tailings, but the total volume of tailings, mill debris, embankment material, cover material, and contaminated site soils that have been placed over the tailings is estimated to be in excess of 13 million tons.