Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Richard A. Brand
Department of Physics
& Responsible for radiation safety
University of Duisburg-Essen
(Multifos: Tricalcium Phosphate)
Plan
• Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM)
Ref: BEIR VII Health Risks from Exposure to Low Levels of Ref: Strahlenschutzverordnung 2001
Ionizing Radiation, National Research Council 2006
Natural environmental radioactivity
Artikel 13
Dosisgrenzwerte für Einzelpersonen der Bevölkerung
(1) Unbeschadet des Artikels 14 sind die in den Absätzen 2 und 3 festgelegten
Dosisgrenzwerte für Einzelpersonen der Bevölkerung einzuhalten.
(2) Der Grenzwert der effektiven Dosis beträgt 1 mSv pro Jahr. Allerdings kann
unter besonderen Umständen ein höherer Wert der effektiven Dosis pro Jahr
zugelassen werden, sofern der Mittelwert über fünf aufeinanderfolgende Jahre
1 mSv pro Jahr nicht überschreitet.
Apatite: Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F,Cl)
Source: National Institute of Health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco_smoking
Examples of Uranium and Radium Removal
Options for the extraction of U from phosphoric acid
3. Membrane separation of U, using liquid membranes with a strong affinity for U (as yet still
in experimental development stage)
4. Froth flotation
complexing U with a surface active agent of hydrophobic nature (froth needs to be purified to
produce high grade „yellow cake“)
Thanks to Sylvia Kratz et al. after Singh et al. (2001), Gupta & Singh (2003)
Examples of Uranium and Radium Removal
in
• Construction
• Agriculture
• Landfill
Phosphogypsum Stacks
Example:
Lebanese
Chemical
Company
Greenpeace
Research
Laboratories
2002
• Commercial interest in
recovering uranium depends on
market price
past
Advantage of U extraction:
Potential U resources in phosphate rock are estimated to range between 15
and 22 Mio t U (WISE, 2000; UIC, 2005). At the current global rate of
consumption (68000 t U/year; UIC, 2005), phosphatic uranium could meet the
global demand for about 220 to 324 years. As a „side effect“, U input into
agricultural soils with mineral P fertilization would be reduced.
Known conventional U resources, on the other hand, are around 3.5 Mio t U,
and will only last for about 50 years (UIC, 2005).
http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iraq/alqaim.html
•Interest in recovering uranium for
military and clandestine purposes:
•Israel
40 20
30 15
20 10
0 N = 65 0
0.0068 0.0069 0.0070 0.0071 0.0072 5.1E-5 5.2E-5 5.3E-5 5.4E-5 5.5E-5 5.6E-5 5.7E-5 5.8E-5
Presently:
Phosphogypsum stacks
capped with plastic
Cost: 10 to 20 M$/stack
Dr. Bill Burnett surveys the crater-like summit
of Florida's largest GYP stack at IMC-Agrico Constant monitoring
necessary
Main problems:
C. Koopman, G. J. Witkamp, G. M.
Van Rosmalen,
Removal of heavy metals and
lanthanides from industrial
phosphoric acid process liquors,
Separ. Sci. Technol. 1999, 34(15),
2997-3008
What should be done