Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Stefan Bister
  • Jonny Birkhan
  • Torben Lüllau
  • Maruta Bunka
  • Alexander Solle
  • Christian Stieghorst
  • Beate Riebe
  • Rolf Michel
  • Clemens Walther
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)21-31
Seitenumfang11
FachzeitschriftJournal of Environmental Radioactivity
Jahrgang144
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 17 März 2015

Abstract

The Mulde River drains the former uranium mining areas in Saxony (Germany), which has led to a large-scale contamination of the river and the adjacent floodplain soils with radionuclides of the uranium decay series. The objective of the investigation is to quantify the long-term effect of former uranium mining activities on a river system. All of the investigated environmental compartments (water, sediment, soil) still reveal an impact from the former uranium mining and milling activities. The contamination of water has decreased considerably during the last 20 years due to the operation of water treatment facilities. The uranium content of the sediments decreased as well (on average by a factor of 5.6), most likely caused by displacement of contaminated material during flood events. Currently, the impact of the mining activities is most obvious in soils. For some of the plots activity concentrations of >200 Bq/kg of soil were detected for uranium-238. Alluvial soils used as grassland were found to be contaminated to a higher degree than those used as cropland.

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Zitieren

Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany. / Bister, Stefan; Birkhan, Jonny; Lüllau, Torben et al.
in: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Jahrgang 144, 17.03.2015, S. 21-31.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Bister, S, Birkhan, J, Lüllau, T, Bunka, M, Solle, A, Stieghorst, C, Riebe, B, Michel, R & Walther, C 2015, 'Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany', Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Jg. 144, S. 21-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.02.024
Bister, S., Birkhan, J., Lüllau, T., Bunka, M., Solle, A., Stieghorst, C., Riebe, B., Michel, R., & Walther, C. (2015). Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 144, 21-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.02.024
Bister S, Birkhan J, Lüllau T, Bunka M, Solle A, Stieghorst C et al. Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 2015 Mär 17;144:21-31. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2015.02.024
Bister, Stefan ; Birkhan, Jonny ; Lüllau, Torben et al. / Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany. in: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 2015 ; Jahrgang 144. S. 21-31.
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title = "Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany",
abstract = "The Mulde River drains the former uranium mining areas in Saxony (Germany), which has led to a large-scale contamination of the river and the adjacent floodplain soils with radionuclides of the uranium decay series. The objective of the investigation is to quantify the long-term effect of former uranium mining activities on a river system. All of the investigated environmental compartments (water, sediment, soil) still reveal an impact from the former uranium mining and milling activities. The contamination of water has decreased considerably during the last 20 years due to the operation of water treatment facilities. The uranium content of the sediments decreased as well (on average by a factor of 5.6), most likely caused by displacement of contaminated material during flood events. Currently, the impact of the mining activities is most obvious in soils. For some of the plots activity concentrations of >200 Bq/kg of soil were detected for uranium-238. Alluvial soils used as grassland were found to be contaminated to a higher degree than those used as cropland.",
keywords = "Alluvial soil, Mulde River, Radionuclide transport, Sediment, Uranium mining, Water",
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T1 - Impact of former uranium mining activities on the floodplains of the Mulde River, Saxony, Germany

AU - Bister, Stefan

AU - Birkhan, Jonny

AU - Lüllau, Torben

AU - Bunka, Maruta

AU - Solle, Alexander

AU - Stieghorst, Christian

AU - Riebe, Beate

AU - Michel, Rolf

AU - Walther, Clemens

N1 - Funding information: This research project was supported by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under contract number 02NUK002D .

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N2 - The Mulde River drains the former uranium mining areas in Saxony (Germany), which has led to a large-scale contamination of the river and the adjacent floodplain soils with radionuclides of the uranium decay series. The objective of the investigation is to quantify the long-term effect of former uranium mining activities on a river system. All of the investigated environmental compartments (water, sediment, soil) still reveal an impact from the former uranium mining and milling activities. The contamination of water has decreased considerably during the last 20 years due to the operation of water treatment facilities. The uranium content of the sediments decreased as well (on average by a factor of 5.6), most likely caused by displacement of contaminated material during flood events. Currently, the impact of the mining activities is most obvious in soils. For some of the plots activity concentrations of >200 Bq/kg of soil were detected for uranium-238. Alluvial soils used as grassland were found to be contaminated to a higher degree than those used as cropland.

AB - The Mulde River drains the former uranium mining areas in Saxony (Germany), which has led to a large-scale contamination of the river and the adjacent floodplain soils with radionuclides of the uranium decay series. The objective of the investigation is to quantify the long-term effect of former uranium mining activities on a river system. All of the investigated environmental compartments (water, sediment, soil) still reveal an impact from the former uranium mining and milling activities. The contamination of water has decreased considerably during the last 20 years due to the operation of water treatment facilities. The uranium content of the sediments decreased as well (on average by a factor of 5.6), most likely caused by displacement of contaminated material during flood events. Currently, the impact of the mining activities is most obvious in soils. For some of the plots activity concentrations of >200 Bq/kg of soil were detected for uranium-238. Alluvial soils used as grassland were found to be contaminated to a higher degree than those used as cropland.

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KW - Mulde River

KW - Radionuclide transport

KW - Sediment

KW - Uranium mining

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