<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Four soil profiles were collected from locations with different distances (5, 50, 250 and 1000 m) from a uranium mill tailings dam, Guangdong province, China, to investigate the pollution status of the soil in mining/milling-related areas based on the contents of uranium (U) and thorium (Th), thus to understand the impacts of uranium industrial activities to the surroundings. The U and Th concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after conventional HF-HNO3-HClO4 digestion procedures. The results indicate that the soils within 50 m from uranium tailing were severely contaminated; those in 250 and 1000 m soil samples were observed to be with local background level even though these in 250 m had slightly higher U/Th ratios. Uranium concentrations varied from 5.50 ± 0.27 to 160.55 ± 8.03 mg/kg, with maximum values recorded in an intermediate layer of the 5-m distance soil profile. In comparison, the concentration of Th ranged from 6.02 ± 0.30 to 84.71 ± 4.24 mg/kg, with maximum values observed in the top layer of the 1000-m distance soil profile. The U/Th ratio varied from 0.15 to 11.99 compared with 0.20, 0.22 and 0.26 of the average for Guangdong province, national China and the world, respectively. The mean U/Th of four soil profiles showed a reduction with distance from the uranium mill tailing dam, suggesting the relatively large magnitude of uranium elevation in soils within limited distances.</abstract>

Four soil profiles were collected from locations with different distances (5, 50, 250 and 1000 m) from a uranium mill tailings dam, Guangdong province, China, to investigate the pollution status of the soil in mining/milling-related areas based on the contents of uranium (U) and thorium (Th), thus to understand the impacts of uranium industrial activities to the surroundings. The U and Th concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) after conventional HF-HNO3-HClO4 digestion procedures. The results indicate that the soils within 50 m from uranium tailing were severely contaminated; those in 250 and 1000 m soil samples were observed to be with local background level even though these in 250 m had slightly higher U/Th ratios. Uranium concentrations varied from 5.50 ± 0.27 to 160.55 ± 8.03 mg/kg, with maximum values recorded in an intermediate layer of the 5-m distance soil profile. In comparison, the concentration of Th ranged from 6.02 ± 0.30 to 84.71 ± 4.24 mg/kg, with maximum values observed in the top layer of the 1000-m distance soil profile. The U/Th ratio varied from 0.15 to 11.99 compared with 0.20, 0.22 and 0.26 of the average for Guangdong province, national China and the world, respectively. The mean U/Th of four soil profiles showed a reduction with distance from the uranium mill tailing dam, suggesting the relatively large magnitude of uranium elevation in soils within limited distances.

Preliminary results of spatial distribution of uranium and thorium in soil profiles near a uranium industrial site, Guangdong province, China

School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University and Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, 230 Waihuan West Str., 510006 Guangzhou,

State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 99 Lincheng West Str., 550081 Guiyang,

Guangdong Provincial Academy of Environmental Science, 335 Middle Dongfeng Str., 510045 Guangzhou,

Nukleonika

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Four soil profiles were collected from locations with different distances (5, 50, 250 and 1000 m) from a uranium mill tailings dam, Guangdong province, China,...

Preliminary results of spatial distribution of uranium and thorium in soil profiles near a uranium industrial site, Guangdong province, China

Published Online: Sep 10, 2016

Page range: 367 - 371

Received: Dec 05, 2015

Accepted: Apr 01, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nuka-2016-0061

Keywords
spatial distribution, thorium, uranium, U/Th ratio

© 2016 Jin Wang et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Preliminary results of spatial distribution of uranium and thorium in soil profiles near a uranium industrial site, Guangdong province, China

Published Online: Sep 10, 2016

Page range: 367 - 371

Received: Dec 05, 2015

Accepted: Apr 01, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nuka-2016-0061

Keywordsspatial distribution, thorium, uranium, U/Th ratio

© 2016 Jin Wang et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
spatial distribution, thorium, uranium, U/Th ratio