Turning a Problem into a Resource: Remediation and Waste Management at the Sillamae Site, Estonia

280 Pages·2000·13.02 MB·English

by  Mihkel Veiderma (auth.), Cheryl K. Rofer, Tõnis Kaasik (eds.)

Turning a Problem into a Resource:
Remediation and Waste Management at the
Sillamäe Site, Estonia
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Series 1: Disarmament Technologies - Vol. 28
Turning a Problem into
a Resource:
Remediation and Waste
Management at the Sillamäe Site,
Estonia
edited by
Cheryl K. Rofer
Los Alamos National Laboratory,
Los Alamos, New Mexico, U.S.A.
and
Tönis Kaasik
ÖkoSil Ltd.,
Tallinn, Estonia
w
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.V.
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on
Turning a Problem into a Resource:
Remediation and Waste Management at the Sillamäe Site
Tallinn, Estonia
5-9 October 1998
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-7923-6187-9 ISBN 978-94-011-4092-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-4092-8
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved
© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2000
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright
owner.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
rx
Cheryl K Rofer and Tonis Kaasik ........................................................................
Introduction and Recommendations
Cheryl K Rofer and Tonis Kaasik. ....................................................................... xi
INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL: THE SITUATION AT SILLAMAE
Industrial Complex in Northeast Estonia: Technical, Economic and
Environmental Aspects
Mihlrel Veiderma .................................................................................................... 1
Uranium Processing at Sillamiie and Decommissioning of the Tailings
E. Lippmaa and E. Maremiie .................................................................................. 5
Sillamii~A Common Baltic Concern
Jan OlofSnihs ...................................................................................................... 15
Master Plan for Remediation of the Sillamiie Tailings Pond and Technical
Design Project
Tonis Kaasik ......................................................................................................... 21
Site Monitoring
Vladimir Nosov .....................................................................................................2 7
Stability of the Dam at the Sillamiie Tailings Pond
M Mets and H Tom ........................................................................................... .31
Process Flow Sheet
V. Petrenko and A. Siinmaa ................................................................................. .47
vi
Rare Earth Production at the Sillamae Plant,1969-1991 and
the Possibility of Scandium Extraction from Loparite
V. D. Kosynkin and V. J. Nikonov ........................................................................ 57
Indoor Occupational Exposure to Radiation at the Silmet Plant in Estonia:
A Preliminary Assessment
Roimo Mustonen, Mika Markkanen, Eero Oksanen, and Roivo Rojamiie ........... 63
EXPERIENCE WITII URANIUM TAILINGS IN OTHER COUNTRIES
Remediation of the Former Uranium Mine Ranstad
B. Sundblad .......................................................................................................... 69
Remediation of Tailings Dams
A. G. Benckert. ..................................................................................................... 75
Remediation Concepts for Uranium Mining Operations in CEEC:
A Ph are Multi-Country Environmental Sector Programma
Jan Vrijen ............................................................................................................. 81
WISMUT Experience in Remediation of Uranium Mill Tailings Ponds
A. T. Jakubick and M Hagen ............................................................................... 93
Post-Remediation Monitoring and Maintenance Experience at Uranium Mill
Tailings Sites, United States
Charles A. Jones, Carl L. Jacobson, Mark P. Plessinger, and Russel Edge ..... 107
Current State of Remediation of Tailings Ponds and Their Surroundings in
Hungary
1 Benkovics, J. Csicsak, M Cs6vtiri, and Zs. Lendvai. ...................................... 117
The Environmental Impact of Former Uranium Mining Activities at the
Novoveska Huta Site, Slovakia
Miroslav Kosik ................................................................................................... 129
vii
A "Heritage" from Uranium Mining in Poland
Z. Waclawek, J. Koszela, and W Charewicz ..................................................... 133
A Field Study of Capillary and Hydraulic Barriers in Landfill Covers Varying in
Slope at Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
J. W Nyhan, T. G. Schofield, and J. A. Salazar ................................................. 139
REGULATORY AND LEGAL ISSUES
Estonian Radiation Protection Requirements and the Sillamiie Site
Enn Realo ........................................................................................................... 153
Legal Responsibility and Liability for the Sillamiie Site
Goran Hedelius .................................................................................................. 165
Regulations and Requirements-Swedish Approach
Jan OlofS nihs .................................................................................................... 171
Nordic Experience with Environmental Regulations
Karin Broden ...................................................................................................... 177
ASSESSMENT OF OPTIONS
Outline of a Multiattribute Utility Approach to Development of a Waste
Management Strategy at Sillamiie
Peter C. Anselmo ................................................................................................ 185
The Potential for Economic Recovery of Metals from the Sillamiie Site
G. A. Davis ......................................................................................................... 195
APPLICABLE TECHNOLOGIES
Oil Shale Ash: Its Characterization and Possible Use in Remediation at the
Sillamiie Site
T. Laur and V. Kikas .......................................................................................... 207
viii
Types of Oil Shale Ash and Methods for Increasing Their Reactivity
R. Kuusik and T. Kaljuvee .................................................................................. 215
Utilizatioo of Semi-Coke for Energy Production
Jaan Uustalu ....................................................................................................... 223
Magnetic Separation for Rare Earth Oxide Recovery at Sillamlie, Estonia
L. M Worl, D. Hill, D. D. Padilla, F. C. Prenger, and E. Roth. ........................ 229
Purification and Utilization of Waste Waters from Silmet Plant
Containing Ammoniwn Salts
G. Rajalo, T. Petrovskaya, andM Glushko .......................................................2 37
New Approaches for the Trea1ment of Naturally Occurring
Radioactive Materials
Loes M M Roeloft and Rob B. Wiegers ............................................................ 245
Ash Cements Stabilized by Supercritical CO Carbonation
2
for Tailings Pond Overlayer
James B. Rubin, Craig M V. Taylor, Patricia Paviet-Hartmann, and Thomas
Hartmann ...................................................................................................... ;. ... .253
A Novel Chemical Nitrate Destruction Process
J. Dziewinski and S. Marczak. ............................................................................ 265
Index 275
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The organization of the workshop was the dual responsibility of OkoSil Ltd. and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory. OkoSil took care of most of the arrangements for
organizing the meeting, and both institutions, together with Jan Olof Snihs of the
Swedish Radiation Protection Institute and Mihkel Veiderma of the Estonian Academy
of Sciences, developed the program and selected the participants. Editing the
proceedings was primarily the responsibility of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
In Estonia, a number of institutions and individuals helped to make the workshop a
success. The Estonian Ministry of the Environment provided expert advice in
developing the program. The staff of the Estonian National Library, where the
workshop sessions were held, were meticulous in their preparations and generous in
their support. The City of Sillamiie and its mayor, the late Jaak Taam, graciously
welcomed the workshop participants on their visit to the site, arranged by JUri
Kuslapuu of Silmet. The Silmet Group provided financial support.
The support of the Earth and Space Sciences Division and the Environmental
Science and Waste Technology Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, made
possible by C. Wes Myers and Thomas E. Baca, is gratefully acknowledged.
Additionally, Ines Triay and M. James Aldrich provided significant encouragement to
this effort.
The session chairs, Dennis L. Hjeresen, Russel Edge, Jan Olof Snihs, and Raimo
Mustonen, were helpful in developing the workshop itself and in completing this book.
Russel Edge and Raimo Mustonen provided additional help in editing the papers for
the book.
Special thanks go to the OkoSil organizers, in particular Anti Siinmaa and Indrek
Hellerma, who oversaw the details of the workshop preparation.
At NATO, Dr. Nancy Schulte, Program Director of the Disarmament Technologies
Division, was extremely helpful, patient, and supportive.
The contributions of every participant to the workshop were important to the
workshop'S success and are gratefully acknowledged.
Cheryl K Rofer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Tonis Kaasilc, OIwSil Ltd.
ix
INTRODUCTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
CHERYL K. ROFER
Los Alamos National Laboratory
P. O. Box 1663
Los Alamos, NM 87545 USA
TONIS KAASIK
OkoSii Ltd
Rav;2
Tallinn EE0001
Estonia
1. Introduction
Estonia, a country of about 1.5 million people and 45,200 km2 land area, inherited a
number of environmental liabilities from the Soviet Union. One of the largest of these
liabilities is the Sillamlie site in northeastern Estonia. A NATO Advanced Research
Workshop, "Turning a Problem into a Resource: Remediation and Waste Management
at the Sillamlie Site, Estonia," was held in Tallinn, Estonia, 5-9 October 1998. The
purpose of that workshop was to bring together experts to discuss relevant experience
in other countries and make recommendations on the future course of remediation and
waste management at Sillamlie.
The Sillamlie Metallurgy Plant, which was managed by the USSR Ministry of
Medium-Scale Engineering, was built in 1946 to produce uranium metal from local
shales. The shales were found to be unsatisfactory for this purpose, and uranium ores
were imported from central and east European countries, particularly from Hungary
and the former Czechoslovakia. During the 1980s, part of the capacity of the plant was
converted to production of rare earth oxides and niobium and tantalum, also from
imported ores and concentrates. All uranium production at Sillamae ended in 1990.
After Estonia's return to independence, the plant Vias privatized and now belongs
to the Silmet Group. It produces rare earth oxides and niobium and tantalum. A
public-private company, OkoSil Ltd., 65% owned by the Silmet Group and 35% by the
Estonian government, is charged with managing the cleanup of the site, enhancement
of production technologies, and disposal of currently produced wastes.
Environmental liabilities at Sillamae include a tailings pond of approximately
330,000 m2 area and 8 million m3 volume, containing tailings from the metals
processing and oil shale ash from power production. The pond is located on the shore
of the Gulf of Finland. The stability of the dike, radon and dust emissions from the
pond, and uranium and nitrate leaching from the pond into the Gulf must be addressed
to bring the site into compliance with environmental regulations. Wastes from current
xi