FWO-Institutskolloquium “The geomicrobiology of the nuclear fuel cycle”

Date

Jul 9, 2014

Time

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Speaker

John Lloyd

Language

en

Main Topic

Physik

Other Topics

Physik

Host

Jana Gorzitze

Description

Microbial metabolism can have a controlling influence on the solubility of actinides and fission products in engineered and natural environments. In the “far field” surrounding a nuclear repository, microbial pro-cesses can immobilise redox active radionuclides via respiratory processes that either change directly the oxidation state of the element, or produce new biogenic phases for enhanced sorption. In the “near field” of the repository, the direct and indirect impacts of microbial metabolism are less well characterised but have the potential to have a significant impact on wasteform evolution and radionuclide mobility, and must be incorporated into the safety case of the repository. Studies from a range of contrasting natural and engineered systems will highlight how microbial communities can respond to the radioactive inventory and the extreme (radio)chemistry of some disposed wasteforms, and ultimately control the biogeochemical fate of key radioactive elements.

Last modified: Jul 9, 2014, 9:41:03 AM