Consolidation Behavior of a Uranium Tailings Storage Facility in Saskatchewan
Publication: Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 19, Issue 4
Abstract
The large-strain consolidation behavior of a uranium tailings storage facility was investigated by analyzing survey data (bathymetric and topographic) from 1996 to 2008, laboratory testing of the mill tailings using a consolidation test system, and history matching of the deposited tailings using numerical modeling. The average cumulative consolidated height in the Deilmann Tailings Management Facility (DTMF) can be divided into four distinct stages: (1) rapid increase of from 1996 to 1999, (2) steady height increase of over the next 3 years, (3) relatively large height increase of approximately from 2002 to 2005, and (4) a steady height increase of over the next 3 years. During the large-strain consolidation test of the investigated mill tailings ( of 0.3–8 kPa), the void ratio decreased from 5.8 to 3.3 and the solids content increased from 32 to 46%. The vertical hydraulic conductivity was found to range from to . The numerical modeling results closely approximated the consolidated tailings elevations and effective stress profiles in the DTMF over the period of 1996 to 2008. The field effective stress values correlated quite well with the modeling results, thereby validating the predictions. Overall, the results indicate that the effective stress increased from 0 kPa at the surface to the following values at the DTMF bottom: 200 kPa in 1999, 530 kPa in 2005, and 680 kPa in 2008.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge Cameco Corporation, Canada, for providing materials and financial assistance, and the University of Regina for providing research facilities. Thanks are given to Dr. Dobroslav Znidarcic, University of Colorado Boulder, for making the CONDES software available, and Dr. Gordan Gjerapic, Golder Associates Inc., for exchanging his suggestions regarding consolidation modeling.
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Published In
Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste
Volume 19 • Issue 4 • October 2015
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 26, 2014
Accepted: Mar 12, 2015
Published online: May 4, 2015
Published in print: Oct 1, 2015
Discussion open until: Oct 4, 2015
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