Journal of Petrology Volume 42 Number 4 Pages 853-854 2001
© Oxford University Press 2001
Book Review
School of the Environment, University of Leeds
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INTRODUCTION |
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 TOP INTRODUCTION |
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Uranium: Mineralogy, Geochemistry and the Environment, edited by P. C. Burns and R. Finch. Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 38. Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, DC, 1999. 679 pp. ISBN 0-939950-50-2. US$32.00, MSA members US$24.00
This book was written in preparation for a ‘short course’ of the same title held by the Mineralogical Society of America in October 1999. However, at 679 pp. the book has become an extensive reference work. The book takes the form of a series of distinct, in-depth contributions in a range of fields associated with current mineralogical, geochemical and environmental research into uranium behaviour. The book begins with a general introduction to radioactivity and geochemistry. There is a series of reference chapters associated with U mineralogy, U ore deposits, techniques used for the identification of U minerals and analysis of U in environmental samples, and a series of review chapters that make use of case studies to highlight developments in active areas of uranium research.
In Ewing’s introductory chapter, a broader context for the book is set with the 20th century described as the ‘Atomic Era’. Ewing provides a clear and up-to-date review of the current situation for nuclear power generation, the associated legacy of spent nuclear fuel and of nuclear waste and fissile plutonium generated from nuclear weapons. His purpose is ‘to place the phenomenon of radioactivity in a broader perspective’, and as such the introduction achieves this purpose. However, as the subject areas covered by the book are so diverse, I felt that an explicit chapter on the main aspects of active uranium research in the fields of ‘Mineralogy, Geochemistry and the Environment’ would have placed the remainder of the chapters into a more immediate context.
Of the reference chapters, Burns’ comprehensive account of U mineral structures provides a framework for many of the discussions of applied U mineralogy in later chapters. Further comprehensive reference chapters are provided on identification of U minerals by IR spectroscopy and thermal analysis of minerals (Cejka), and by X-ray powder diffraction (Hill). A feature of both of these chapters is a clear explanation of the techniques and a discussion of the problems and pitfalls associated with the analyses. Finally, Wolf provides a current discussion of the methods of U analysis in geological and environmental materials.
The ‘review’-based chapters cover diverse areas of uranium research. A number of authors focus on issues associated with uranium mineralogy. Finch & Murakami give a thorough account of the systematics and paragenesis of uranium minerals. The discussion includes a review of economically important uranium minerals and the section on paragenesis of uranyl mineral groups provides an articulate summary of the possible reactions that can either retard or enhance the mobility of uranium in the oxic environment. A detailed review of new methods used to estimate Gibbs free energies of formation of uranyl minerals for which no thermodynamic data exist is included. The aim is further to understand the chemical durability and paragenesis of spent nuclear fuel. Fayek & Kyser then discuss the stable isotope geochemistry of uranium deposits with particular reference to exploitation of mineral deposits and characterization of hydrothermal fluids associated with mineral deposition. Plant et al. review mineralization of uranium in economically important ore deposits. The authors also review the various classifications of U deposits, giving detailed case study examples where appropriate. The chapter by Wronkiewicz & Buck is very much focused on the problem of the disposal of radioactive wastes produced by the nuclear legacy. The authors present a brief review of the currently accepted ‘multi-barrier’ geological disposal system proposed for high-level nuclear wastes. The oxidation of UO2 in nuclear fuel is then discussed in terms of formation of secondary uranyl mineral phases and soluble uranyl species when spent fuel is exposed to an oxidizing atmosphere at some hypothetical time after disposal in a geological repository. Finally, Hanchar provides a thorough review of spectroscopic techniques applied to uranium in minerals, including a pertinent discussion of a number of recent environmental studies that have utilized X-ray absorption techniques to determine U oxidation states and associations in sediment samples.
For chapters that deal mainly with uranium geochemistry, Murphy & Shock provide a thorough and well-referenced introduction to environmental aqueous geochemistry of the actinide elements, and include discussion of the general geochemical behaviour of the transuranic elements Np, Pu and Am. The discussion then moves on to the ‘hot water’ geochemistry of the actinide elements, and a technique to estimate the variation in standard state properties for organic and inorganic actinide species as a function of temperature and pressure is outlined and applied to americium speciation calculations in a range of natural ‘hot waters’. In light of later discussions of the biogeochemical behaviour of uranium in low-temperature environments (see below), a chapter that expanded the introduction of aqueous geochemistry of the actinides provided by Murphy & Shock, and focused specifically on low-temperature geochemistry, may have helped readers interested in these areas. Janeczeck provides an in-depth case study review of the mineralogy and geochemistry of the natural fission reactors in Gabon. The author includes an extensive review of the evidence for (and against) the mobility of different actinide and fission products at the site. In their chapter on the geomicrobiology of uranium, Suzuki & Banfield provide a timely review of the processes by which microorganisms can affect the speciation, distribution and fate of uranium in the environment. An excellent discussion of the effects of pH on U speciation and uptake by biomass, and a concise discussion of surface complexation modelling of U biosorption is included. Finally, the role of bacteria in geological formation of uranium deposits as well as in contemporary surface and subsurface geochemical cycles is reviewed. Abdelouas et al. continue the geomicrobiological theme in their discussion of U subsurface contamination associated with U mining and milling. The focus of their discussion is a novel bioremediation technique for reduction of U present in groundwaters. The proposed technique optimizes in situ microbially induced reduction of soluble U(VI) to insoluble U(IV). The chapter includes a case study in which U(VI) bioreduction was investigated from a remediation perspective at a U-contaminated site and emphasizes new practical approaches to dealing with uranium contamination in surface and subsurface environments. Overall, this is undoubtedly a valuable reference manual for a wide range of research scientists. The diverse nature of topics included in the book only serves to highlight the multidisciplinary nature of research into environmental radioactivity. I have already found myself dipping into the book as a ready reference, and would recommend this very good value text to a wide community of researchers interested in environmental contaminants and radioactivity.
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