Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation

Renato Machado Cotta; Carolina P. Naveira-Cotta; Martinus T. van Genuchten; Jian Su; João N.N. Quaresma

doi:10.1590/0001-3765202020190427

Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation

Renato Machado Cotta^*, Carolina P. Naveira-Cotta, Martinus T. van Genuchten, Jian Su, João N.N. Quaresma

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT) was employed to simulate transient one-dimensional flow in variably saturated porous media, as well as radioactive waste transport within different layers (a solid waste pile, nearby soil, and a granular aquifer) towards the edge of a uranium mining installation under institutional control. Computational codes, written using the Mathematica software system, were implemented and tested for solution of the coupled advection-dispersion equations for an arbitrary number of daughter products within a radioactive chain migrating in saturated and unsaturated soil layers. The computer simulations were verified in great detail against results obtained using the built-in routine NDSolve of the Mathematica platform and the HYDRUS-1D software system. The present work reports the main results for 238U chain radionuclide transport using data extracted from a safety assessment of solid waste repositories at a uranium mining and milling installation in Caetité, state of Bahia, Brazil, operated by INB (Indústrias Nucleares do Brasil). Concentration evolutions of the various radionuclides obtained with the simulations were analyzed for five different cases to explore variations in the infiltration and recharge rates, the effect of assuming physical equilibrium or non-equilibrium transport conditions, and of different initial concentrations of some of the radionuclides.

Original language	English
Article number	e20190427
Number of pages	27
Journal	Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Volume	92
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020190427
Publication status	Published - 2020

Funding

The authors are grateful for financial support provided by INB (Ind?strias Nucleares do Brasil), under grant no. COPPETEC PEM-7957. This work was also partially supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq), Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior (CAPES) and Funda??o de Amparo ? Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), all of them government sponsoring agencies in Brazil.

Keywords

Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT)
Hybrid methods
Physical non-equilibrium transport
Radioactive waste leaching
Unsaturated porous media
Uranium mining

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1590/0001-3765202020190427

0001-3765-aabc-92-01-e20190427Final published version, 10.3 MB

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Cotta, R. M., Naveira-Cotta, C. P., van Genuchten, M. T., Su, J., & Quaresma, J. N. N. (2020). Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, 92(1), Article e20190427. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020190427

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title = "Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation",

abstract = "The Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT) was employed to simulate transient one-dimensional flow in variably saturated porous media, as well as radioactive waste transport within different layers (a solid waste pile, nearby soil, and a granular aquifer) towards the edge of a uranium mining installation under institutional control. Computational codes, written using the Mathematica software system, were implemented and tested for solution of the coupled advection-dispersion equations for an arbitrary number of daughter products within a radioactive chain migrating in saturated and unsaturated soil layers. The computer simulations were verified in great detail against results obtained using the built-in routine NDSolve of the Mathematica platform and the HYDRUS-1D software system. The present work reports the main results for 238U chain radionuclide transport using data extracted from a safety assessment of solid waste repositories at a uranium mining and milling installation in Caetit{\'e}, state of Bahia, Brazil, operated by INB (Ind{\'u}strias Nucleares do Brasil). Concentration evolutions of the various radionuclides obtained with the simulations were analyzed for five different cases to explore variations in the infiltration and recharge rates, the effect of assuming physical equilibrium or non-equilibrium transport conditions, and of different initial concentrations of some of the radionuclides.",

keywords = "Generalized Integral Transform Technique (GITT), Hybrid methods, Physical non-equilibrium transport, Radioactive waste leaching, Unsaturated porous media, Uranium mining",

author = "Cotta, {Renato Machado} and Naveira-Cotta, {Carolina P.} and {van Genuchten}, {Martinus T.} and Jian Su and Quaresma, {Jo{\~a}o N.N.}",

year = "2020",

doi = "10.1590/0001-3765202020190427",

language = "English",

volume = "92",

journal = "Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias",

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Cotta, RM, Naveira-Cotta, CP, van Genuchten, MT, Su, J & Quaresma, JNN 2020, 'Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation', Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, vol. 92, no. 1, e20190427. https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202020190427

Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation. / Cotta, Renato Machado; Naveira-Cotta, Carolina P.; van Genuchten, Martinus T. et al.
In: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias, Vol. 92, No. 1, e20190427, 2020.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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T2 - Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation

AU - Cotta, Renato Machado

AU - Naveira-Cotta, Carolina P.

AU - van Genuchten, Martinus T.

AU - Su, Jian

AU - Quaresma, João N.N.

PY - 2020

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KW - Uranium mining

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M3 - Article

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Integral transform analysis of radionuclide transport in variably saturated media using a physical non-equilibrium model: Application to solid waste leaching at a uranium mining installation

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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