The EPA initially proposed new health and environmental protection standards for uranium in-situ recovery (ISR) facilities on January 26, 2015, however, the EPA has decided to re-propose the rule and seek additional public comment on changes to the original proposal, including changes in the regulatory framework and approach, based on public comment and new information received from stakeholders.
In the ISR process, fluids are injected into an ore-bearing aquifer to mobilize uranium. Extraction wells then collect the groundwater, which is processed at the surface to obtain the uranium. The fluids injected to mobilize uranium also mobilize minerals and metals like arsenic and lead, and change the chemistry of the aquifer from its original state. Groundwater from the altered aquifers could migrate (an excursion) over time and contaminate nearby groundwater.
The proposed rule describes how ISR facilities are to characterize groundwater chemistry before beginning uranium recovery operations. The regulatory agency (NRC or an Agreement State) must set concentration standards for constituents that are expected to present in the groundwater before operations begin or which can be affected by ISR operations.
The regulatory agency would have to consider the following 12 groundwater constituents: arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, nitrate (as nitrogen), molybdenum, radium, and total uranium.
The regulatory agency would also have the right to add other constituent concentration standards as warranted by site-specific conditions. The standard for each individual
constituent would be the lowest one from among the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), or UMTCRA.
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