Abstract
Contamination of environment by uranium is expected in places where mining of uranium ore and processing, nuclear testing and reactor operations when the control measures are not effective. The daughter radionuclides of the ores, chemical additives and residual uranium are the maincomponents of processed waste from uranium industries. The bioremediation of contaminated areas using plant species or group of the plant may offer a cheap, renewable and promising approach to ensure long-term protection to the environment. In view of this, experiments were carried out to study the uranium immobilization potential of vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) Nash) under simulated conditions using the complex tailings. The vetiver plants were planted in simulation tanks at Health Physics Unit (HPU), Jaduguda, Jharkhand, India and periodic samplings were carried out to investigate the extent of uranium uptake. The acid aliquot of ashed plant samples, soil and tailings were subjected to solvent extraction followed by UV-Fluorimeter for estimation of uranium. The studies indicated that the plant species could bioremediate up to 49% of the uranium at 90th day of the experiment and the uranium remediation efficiency of vetiver increased with time and uranium was predominantly localized in the roots of the plant.
Highlights
Contamination of uranium in soil is mainly due to the improper storage (Jones and Serne, 1995; Litaor, 1995) of fission by-products, consequential of nuclear testing reactor operations (Entry et al, 1997) and mill tailings of ore mining (Sheppard and Thibault, 1984; Johnson et al, 1980)
The sudden rise of the uranium concentration from the 60th to the 90th day was due to the vetiver plant reaching the flowering stage
The simulation studies carried out under the controlled conditions showed a decrease in uranium concentration from root zones of the plant indicating fixation of uranium by vetiver
Summary
Contamination of uranium in soil is mainly due to the improper storage (Jones and Serne, 1995; Litaor, 1995) of fission by-products, consequential of nuclear testing reactor operations (Entry et al, 1997) and mill tailings of ore mining (Sheppard and Thibault, 1984; Johnson et al, 1980). The cost of remediation for radionuclides contamination through conventional technology in Northern America alone is considered to be in the surplus of $200-300 billion (Entry et al, 1996). The long-term restoration technology for the process of waste disposal sites of uranium industries includes remediation and reclamation techniques. The phytoremediation technology (using specific plant or plant groups) has been explored as a viable alternative as it offers a cheap, renewable and promising technique to minimize the long-term ecological impact of the waste disposal. The phytoremediation technology (using specific plant or plant groups) has been explored as a viable alternative as it offers a cheap, renewable and promising technique to minimize the long-term ecological impact of the waste disposal. Salt et al (1995) has reported that soil contamination by the disposal of mining waste in the tailing ponds lack the permanent soilcover and the uncovered soil is prone to erosion and the leaching causes environment pollution (Salt et al, 1995).
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