Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste

doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004

Title: Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste

Abstract

Microbes have been isolated previously from bentonite materials that may be used as barriers for the disposal of radioactive waste. Actively respiring microbes in such barrier materials, within a repository environment, have the potential to adversely affect waste container corrosion rates. Additionally, they could potentially alter the properties of the bentonite barrier itself. This is of significance, since the integrity of the waste container and properties of the bentonite barrier are required to fulfil defined safety functions. Furthermore to help identify the critical factors that affect microbial activity in bentonite materials, this study examines the impact of a range of parameters that could affect microbial metabolism in a geodisposal environment. Several bentonites from different sources (bentonite mined from locations in Spain and the USA, along with commercially-sourced bentonite) were subjected to increased pressure (74 MPa, 30 s), heat (90 °C, 24 h), and irradiation (1000 Gy, 24.17 Gy min^–1), before incubation in growth media selective for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) or iron-reducing bacteria (IRB).

Authors:

^[1]; Pearce, Carolyn I. ^[2]; Boothman, Chris ^[1]; Lloyd, Jonathan R. ^[1]

Univ. of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom)
Univ. of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom); Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Publication Date:: 2018-10-07

Research Org.:: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1480131

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1775613

Report Number(s):: PNNL-SA-139606
Journal ID: ISSN 0009-2541; PII: S0009254118304996

Grant/Contract Number:: 861880; NE/H007768/1L; AC05-76RL01830

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Chemical Geology

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 501; Journal ID: ISSN 0009-2541

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; 58 GEOSCIENCES; Bentonite; Sulfate-reducing bacteria; Fe(III)-reducing bacteria; Geological disposal facility

Citation Formats


                    Haynes, Haydn M., Pearce, Carolyn I., Boothman, Chris, and Lloyd, Jonathan R. Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
        Web.  doi:10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004.

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                    Haynes, Haydn M., Pearce, Carolyn I., Boothman, Chris, & Lloyd, Jonathan R. Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste.  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004

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                    Haynes, Haydn M., Pearce, Carolyn I., Boothman, Chris, and Lloyd, Jonathan R. Sun .  
        "Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste".  United States.  doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1480131.

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@article{osti_1480131,

  title        = {Response of bentonite microbial communities to stresses relevant to geodisposal of radioactive waste},

  author       = {Haynes, Haydn M. and Pearce, Carolyn I. and Boothman, Chris and Lloyd, Jonathan R.},

  abstractNote = {Microbes have been isolated previously from bentonite materials that may be used as barriers for the disposal of radioactive waste. Actively respiring microbes in such barrier materials, within a repository environment, have the potential to adversely affect waste container corrosion rates. Additionally, they could potentially alter the properties of the bentonite barrier itself. This is of significance, since the integrity of the waste container and properties of the bentonite barrier are required to fulfil defined safety functions. Furthermore to help identify the critical factors that affect microbial activity in bentonite materials, this study examines the impact of a range of parameters that could affect microbial metabolism in a geodisposal environment. Several bentonites from different sources (bentonite mined from locations in Spain and the USA, along with commercially-sourced bentonite) were subjected to increased pressure (74 MPa, 30 s), heat (90 °C, 24 h), and irradiation (1000 Gy, 24.17 Gy min–1), before incubation in growth media selective for sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) or iron-reducing bacteria (IRB).},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004},

  journal      = {Chemical Geology},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 501,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {2018},

  month        = {10}

}

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2018.10.004

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Figures / Tables:

Table 1: Key chemical characteristics, including the water content, loss on ignition (LOI), pH, surface area (SA), concentration of key interlayer cations (Na⁺, Ca²⁺, K⁺, Mg²⁺), along with the concentration of SO₄²⁻, the redox state of 0.5M HCl extractable Fe, and the mineralogy.

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