{"id":10557,"date":"2022-01-13T09:02:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-13T08:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revistanuclear.es\/uncategorized\/the-use-of-technosols-in-the-restoration-of-the-old-uranium-mines-of-saelices-el-chico-salamanca\/"},"modified":"2022-01-14T10:25:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-14T09:25:07","slug":"the-use-of-technosols-in-the-restoration-of-the-old-uranium-mines-of-saelices-el-chico-salamanca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revistanuclear.es\/en\/climate-and-environment\/the-use-of-technosols-in-the-restoration-of-the-old-uranium-mines-of-saelices-el-chico-salamanca\/","title":{"rendered":"The use of technosols in the restoration of the old uranium mines of Saelices el Chico (Salamanca)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/span>SEE FULL VERSION<\/span><\/a>
<\/div>M<\/span>ining activities, as in many civil works, require the excavation and subsequent surface accumulation of geological materials that, although in their original state and in subsurface conditions, may be inert and thermodynamically stable, once exposed to atmospheric conditions, some of their components, especially sulphides contained in the rocks, suffer a lot of physicochemical and mineralogical transformations, generating hyperacid systems in which risk elements of their constituents are mobilized, causing a large number of potentially toxic elements to affect the water and the trophic chain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The generation of acid mine drainage\u00a0(AMD)\u00a0is a circumstance that\u00a0is conditioning the remediation\u00a0of the old uranium mining operations of ENUSA in\u00a0Saelices\u00a0el\u00a0Chico (Salamanca) and the dismantling\u00a0and\u00a0decommissioning\u00a0of the associated remaining structures, so that it is necessary to\u00a0resort to chemical treatments for\u00a0neutralization and purification of the acid waters generated at the site. As an\u00a0added problem\u00a0particular\u00a0in uranium mining, these treatments generate neutralization sludge in which the natural radioisotopes leached by acid\u00a0waters accumulate, with very low activity and long life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Searching for passive solutions to\u00a0prevent or\u00a0reduce the generation of\u00a0acid\u00a0water\u00a0drainage, one of the tools that is proving to be the most effective for this purpose\u00a0is the application of artificial soils or\u00a0technosols.\u00a0Technosols\u00a0are soils designed, formulated and manufactured with the appropriate\u00a0components and properties to solve or mitigate existing problems. Bioactive compounds, which work through the same physicochemical and biotic mechanisms as natural soils, can be elaborated\u00a0multiplying their effectiveness against each specific problem, and can be complemented with the use of the appropriate plant species, to result in an\u00a0optimal restoration\u00a0process or\u00a0methodology for areas where AMD\u00a0occurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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