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Intrusion of Reclaimed Uranium Mill Tailings by Prairie Dogs and Ground Squirrels¹

ABSTRACT

The potential for intrusion of soil-covered uranium mill tailings was investigated with respect to two sciurids, the whitetail prairie dog (Cynomys leucurus) and the Wyoming ground squirrel (Spermophilus elegans). At a study site in Wyoming, measurements of gross alpha radioactivity on mound surfaces of artificially-introduced prairie dogs were made to reveal any tailings penetration through 0.5 m of soil-cover. Also, the impact of prairie dog burrowing upon radon flux from the cover surface was investigated. Limited, short-lived intrusion of the waste layer was noted, but no significant changes in radon flux were detected. Wyoming ground squirrels confined to soil- and soil/tailings-filled barrels burrowed to less extreme depths when confronted by mill tailings. Additional work at an inactive railings pile in western Colorado revealed repeated intrusion through a shallow cover and subsequent transport of radioactive material to the ground surface by prairie dogs that had voluntarily invaded the site at least 10 yr prior to this study. Radon flux from burrow entrances was significantly greater than that from undisturbed ground at the Colorado site. Differences in burrowing and radionuclide release between the Wyoming and Colorado sites may have been due to railings characteristics such as pH and/or texture, or to other factors such as residence time of the animals.

Key Words: mammal burrowing • buried waste integrity • radon flux

¹ Research supported by the U.S. Dep. of Energy under contract DE-AC02-79EV10305 with Colorado State Univ. The study site was provided by the Pathfinder Mines Corp., Shirley Basin, WY 82615.

² Scientist, Rogers and Associates Engineering Corp., P.O. Box 330, Salt Lake City, UT 84110 and Professor, Dep. of Radiology and Radiation Biology, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523, respectively.

Received for publication April 29, 1985.