Environmental Protection by Leaching of the Remaining Radioactive Element from Granitic Wastes Obtained from the Pilot Plant of Gabal Gattar, Eastern Desert, Egypt

The leaching of uranium from granitic wastes of Gabal Gattar pilot plant, eastern desert, Egypt using several leaching agents such as acidic and alkaline reagents for optimization the extraction and recovery of uranium has been studied in order to protect the environment from the serious damage caused by this element especially when it leaks into groundwater in the areas surrounding the granite waste. The effect of different parameters such as different acidic leaching agent, different alkaline leaching agent, sulfuric acid concentration, grain size, solid/liquid ratio, leaching time, and leaching temperature were investigated. Uranium dissolution efficiency of 90.5% was obtained after 60 minutes contact time leaching using 4M H2SO4 and solid/liquid ratio 1/30 at leaching temperature 80°C and 0.8 mm grain size and 420 rpm mechanical stirring speed without any oxidant addition.