ML19260C910
| ML19260C910 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 07201977 |
| Issue date: | 03/14/1978 |
| From: | TEKNEKRON, INC. |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19260C893 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-PROJ-M-25 NUDOCS 8002060524 | |
| Download: ML19260C910 (10) | |
Text
.
SUMMARY
OF TAILINGS SLURRY RELEASES:
1972-1977 Submitted to:
Ms. Carolyn Boone Environmental Studies Division Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue Argonne, Illinois 60439 under Contract No.
31-109-38-3981 - Task 3 Submitted by:
Teknekron, Inc.
4701 Sangamore Road Wasning cn, D.C. 20016 March 14, 1978 1936 03 eu h_) U us i 8000060 8 3 Teknekron,inc.
4 INTRODUCTION This report is an update of information contained in Table 7.1, " Summary of Accidental Tailings Slurry Releases", of the Western Nuclear Impact Statement (also used in other uranium mill accident sections prepared by Teknekron), which documented accidental tailings releases from uranium mills in the years 1959 through 1971.
Teknekron has conducted a compre-hensive search ta uncover data pertaining to the years 1972 through 1977, inclusive.
In the course of this search, the following sources were utilized:
e NRC Division of Inspection and Enforcement Data Files to obtain information on mills under NRC jurisdiction.
Officials in the regulatory agencies of four western Agree-e ment States to obtain information on those mills under state jurisdiction during this time period.
In the special case of New Mexico, which became an Agreement e
State in May 1974, both state officials and retired NRC data files were surveyed to obtain information prior to the time at which these mills became subject to state jurisdiction.
All information on uranium mills located in Utah and Wyoming was obtained from NRC Inspection and Enforcement Files.
Information on mills located in NRC Agreement States was obtained from the following state officials:
STATE PERSONIS) CONTACTED Colorado James Montgomery Dick Gamewell Bob Funderburg New Mexico Ted Wolff Pat Donahue Texas Martin Wukash Washincton Bob Will
~
Lee Grotemeyer j
1936 104
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OPERATING URANIUM MILLS, 1972-1977 Tables 1 and 2 list mills in operation from 1972 through 1977 in Agree-ment States and NRC States, respectively.
Included are the name, location, and average capacity of all operating mills, plus an indication of any accidental releases during this time period.
From these tables it can be seen that there were a total of 18 operating mills with a combined capacity of roughly 35,000 tons of ore per day (69% of total capacity is located in theAgreementStates).
This corresponds to 104 plant-years
- of operation at a nominal capacity of 767,000 tons /yr, assuming continuous operation.
ACCIDENTAL TAILINGS SLURRY RELEASES A summary of documented accidental tailings releases, including a brief T
description of each event, is given in Table 3.
Table a lists each event in terms of quantity of liquids and solids released and an indication of whether or not the material reached the surrounding watercourse.
There were three releases during this time period (all occurring in 1977); one of which, involved the release of material to the watercourse.
As seen from Table 4, two of the releases in this time period were the result of pipeline failure, while the third was a result of tailings dam failure (one of the pipeline failures resulted in a portion of the material enter-ing the watercourse).
DAM FAILURES From the data given in Table 4, the only dam failure in this period involved 6
6 the release of 7.6 x 10 liters of liquids and 8.2 x 10 kg. of solids.
Com-bining these data with those given in the accident section of the Morton Ranch mill report for the period 1959 through 1971, yields an average release of 1936 105
- Two of the eighteen mills did not operate continuously throughout this period (see Table 2).
7 7
1.4 x 10 liters of liquids and 1.6 x 10 kg. of solids from incidents involving either dam failure or flooding in the period 1959 through 1977.
The likelihood of release to the watercourse through dam failure in the period covered by this report is non-existent, since in the only docu-mented incident, the material was contained on company property.
- However, five out of the nine recorded incidents from 1959 through 1977 involved a release to the watercourse.
In this same time period there were 394 plant-years of operation handling a nominal 423,000 tons of ore per year.
Thus, the likelihood of release -t: the watercourse is in the range of 1 to 2 x 10-2/ plant-year, or an average of roughly one release per 33 million tons of ore processed.
PIPELINE FAILURES From Table 4, the two pipeline failures in this period yielded an average 6
7 release of 9.5 x 10 liters of liquids and 2.3 x 10 kg. of solids.
Combining this with data from the Morton Ranch report as before, gives an average 6
0 release of 3.5 x 10 liters of liquids and 8.2 x 10 kg. of solids frem pipeline failure over the period 1959 through 1977.
[ NOTE:
These figures are considerably lower than corresponding quantities released through dam failures].
One pipeline failure in the period covered by this report resulted in the release of material to the watercourse.
As stated previously thcre were 104 plant-years of operation at a nominal capacity of 757,000 tons /yr from 1972 through 1977, therefore the likelihood of release to. the watercourse is 0.9 to 1.0 x 10 per plant-year.* Four out of the seven pipeline failures reported in the period 1959 through 1977 involved a release to the watercourse.
Using historical data on operation and capacity as before,
- This is an admittedly small sample and should be judged more as a statement of fact than an estimate of probability.
1936 t06 PTk
^
he i kelihood of release from the tailings pipeline to the watercourse i
is 1 :. 10-2/ plant-year or roughly one release per 42 million tons of ore p ocessed between 1959 and 1977.
M 1936 107
TABLE 1 OPERATIllG URAflIUM MILLS, 1972-1977 flRC AGREEMEllT STATES AVERAGC CAPACITY ACCIDEllTAL RELEASES STATE MILL LOCATI0fl T0flS/ DAY Tills PERIOD Colorado Cotter, Corp.
Canon City, Co 250 flo Union Carbide, Corp.
Uravan, Co.
1000 fio Union Carbide, Corp.
Rifle, Co.
600 th flew Mexico Uni ted fluclear-llomes take Grants, llew Mexico 3500 Yes Partners United fluclear-Churcli Rock Church Rock tiew Mexico 3000 (es The Anaconda Co.
Grants, flew Mexico 6000 flo Kerr McGee fluclear, Corp.
Grants, flew Mexico 7000 tio Texas Conoco and Pioneer fluclear, Falls City Texas 2300 llo Inc.
Wasliing ton Dawn Mining Co.
Ford, Wasliington 400 llo w
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~i TABLE 2 OPERATitlG URAllIUM filLLS, 1972-1977 STATES UllDER flRC JURISDICTI0ff AVERAGE CAPACITY ACCIDEllTAL RELEASES STATE MILL LOCATI0ff T0ilS/ DAY Tills PERIOD Utali Atlas Minerals Moab, litah 250 tio Rio Algom, Corp.
Moab, litali 500 llo Wyoming Union Carbide Riverton Wyoming 1650*
tlo Wes tern fluclear, Inc.
Jeffrey City, Wyoming 1000 Yes Utah Interna tional, Inc.
Gas Ilills, Wyoming 1470 tio litali Interantional, Inc.
shirley liasin, Wyoming 1800 flo Federal American Partners Riverton, Wyoming 950 flo Petrotomics, Inc.
Slif riey Basin, Wyoming 1750**
tlo (Getty Oil, Co.)
Exxon Company, U.S.A.
Powder River, Wyoming 3000***
tlo
- Addition of 1095 tons / day capacity in llovember 1974; average ref.lects weighted capacity over six year period.
(Current capacity 2190 tpd)
- Mill didn't operate between 1974 and 1977, inclusive.
- Mill s tartup flovember 26, 1972.
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.s' g-TABLE 4 SUlvtAR! 0F ACCIDEllIAL TAILillGS SLURRY RELEASES, 1972-1977 SOLIDS RELEASES LIQUIDS RELEASED REACilED CAUSE kg (lb) liters (gal)
WATERCOURSE 1.
Pipeline failure 4.5 x 107 (1 x 10 )
8-30 x 106 (2-8 x 10 )
0 6
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Dam failure 8.2 x 106 (1.8 x 10
)
7.6 x 10 f2 x 10 )
,{o 6
6 3.
Pipeline Failure 1.1 x 103 (2.5 x 10 )
1.5 x 10 (4 x 10 )
Roughly 80% of 3
3 solids and 20%
of liquids reached watercourse.
- Assuming equal weights of solids and liquids released, and the density of tie liquids to be approximately 9 lbs/ gallons.
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