Uranium Contamination in Groundwater: Sources, Speciation, Transformations, Migration, and Remediation Strategies

Liu Z. Liang Y. Zhu P. Xu S. Fei J. Uralbekov B. Wang Y.
8 August 2025 American Chemical Society

ACS ES and T Water
2025 #5 Issue 8 4301 - 4321 pp.

Groundwater uranium contamination has emerged as a worldwide critical environmental and public health concern, demanding effective remediation strategies to protect water resources and ensure sustainable nuclear energy development in the context of global carbon neutrality. This comprehensive review systematically synthesizes current understanding of both natural and anthropogenic uranium sources, global distribution, regulatory standards, and associated health risks. The article critically analyzes uranium’s geochemical speciation, transformation pathways, and migration dynamics across varying hydrogeochemical conditions. State-of-the-art eco-friendly remediation technologies, including physicochemical treatments, permeable reactive barriers, microbial remediation, and phytoremediation, are critically reviewed with emphasis on their efficiency, applicability, and the long-term stability of uranium precipitates (particularly U(IV)). Finally, the review highlights key future research directions, such as (1) elucidation of uranium mineralization pathways, (2) optimization of microbial-assisted immobilization, (3) design of in situ remediation tailored to aquifer geochemistry, and (4) enhancement of the oxidative stability of biogenic U(IV) phases. Addressing these challenges will advance our predictive capability of uranium biogeochemistry in groundwater systems and bridge critical gaps between molecular microscopic mechanism and field-scale applications. Furthermore, this review provides a scientific foundation for optimizing the design of functional materials and promoting the development of green and low-carbon nanotechnologies.

Text of the article Перейти на текст статьи

School of Water and Environment, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710054, China
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Intelligent Monitoring and Protection, School of Ecology and Environment, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710129, China
College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan

School of Water and Environment
Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Qinling Ecological Intelligent Monitoring and Protection
College of Environmental Science and Engineering
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology

10 лет помогаем публиковать статьи Международный издатель

Книга Публикация научной статьи Волощук 2026 Book Publication of a scientific article 2026