Transfer modelling and toxicity evaluation of the effluent from an installation of cleansing and uranium recovery using a battery of bioassays.

On July 7, 2008, a leak of effluent from an Installation of Cleansing and Uranium Recovery (Tricastin, France) led to the spillage of uranium in a stream. The acute toxicity of the effluent was evaluated, and compared to the toxicity of uranium nitrate in bioassays using several organisms: Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Daphnia magna, Chironomus riparius and Danio rerio. A sediment bioassay was also performed on C. riparius using water and sediment sampled along the river. Results showed that effluent EC(50) 72 h was 0.65 mg U/l for algae and LC(50) 48 h was 1.67 mg U/l for daphnia, while values obtained for uranium nitrate were higher. The LC(50) 96 h of effluent to C. riparius was 22.7 mg U/l, similar to value for uranium nitrate; the sediment collected was not toxic to C. riparius larvae. The LOEC of effluent and uranium nitrate on HT(50) of D. rerio were similar (0.03 mg U/l), but larvae were more sensitive to uranium nitrate than to effluent. Our results suggest that other substances contained in the effluent could potentially be toxic to wildlife in association with uranium. In parallel, the modelling of the transfers based on uranium measurements in the surface water was used to fill data gaps and assess the impact along the river. These results provided an estimate of exposure conditions that occurred along the river. This approach allowed us to see that the risk to ecosystem during this incident was certainly low and concerned a short period of time, but it could have existed at least for some species.