Microbial uptake of uranium, cesium, and radium

Conference · Mon Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5201248

Strandberg, G. W.; Shumate, II, S. E.; Parrott, Jr., J. R.; McWhirter, D. A.

The ability of diverse microbial species to concentrate uranium, cesium, and radium was examined. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and a mixed culture of denitrifying bacteria accumulated uranium to 10 to 15% of the dry cell weight. Only a fraction of the cells in a given population had visible uranium deposits in electron micrographs. While metabolism was not required for uranium uptake, mechanistic differences in the metal uptake process were indicated. Uranium accumulated slowly (hours) on the surface of S. cerevisiae and was subject to environmental factors (i.e., temperature, pH, interfering cations and anions). In contrast, P. aeruginosa and the mixed culture of denitrifying bacteria accumulated uranium rapidly (minutes) as dense, apparently random, intracellular deposits. This very rapid accumulation has prevented us from determining whether the uptake rate during the transient between the initial and equilibrium distribution of uranium is affected by environmental conditions. However, the final equilibrium distributions are not affected by those conditions which affect uptake by S. cerevisiae. Cesium and radium were concentrated to a considerably lesser extent than uranium by the several microbial species tested. The potential utility of microorganisms for the removal and concentration of these metals from nuclear processing wastes and several bioreactor designs for contacting microorganisms with contaminated waste streams will be discussed.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 5201248
• Report Number(s): CONF-800814-12
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
550700 -- Microbiology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDES
ADSORBENTS
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BACTERIA
BIOADSORBENTS
BIODEGRADATION
CESIUM
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLEANING
DECOMPOSITION
DECONTAMINATION
DISPERSIONS
ELEMENTS
FUEL FABRICATION PLANTS
FUNGI
MANAGEMENT
METALS
MICROORGANISMS
MIXTURES
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PH VALUE
PLANTS
PROCESS SOLUTIONS
PROCESSING
PSEUDOMONAS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RADIUM
SACCHAROMYCES
SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE
SOLUTIONS
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
UPTAKE
URANIUM
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
YEASTS