Impacts of microorganisms on radionuclides in contaminated environments and waste materials

Francis, A.J.

doi:10.1533/9780857097194.1.161

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 151 publications

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“…Even such properties are not an impediment to have biotechnological applications for radionuclides recovery from mineral rock or radioactive waste and wastewater (Francis, 2012). Most of the recovery technologies entail immobilization of the radioactive metals and recovery after de-structuring of biological waste.…”

Section: Resource Recovery For a Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

et al. 2017

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Limits in resource availability are driving a change in current societal production systems, changing the focus from residues treatment, such as wastewater treatment, toward resource recovery. Biotechnological processes offer an economic and versatile way to concentrate and transform resources from waste/wastewater into valuable products, which is a prerequisite for the technological development of a cradle-to-cradle bio-based economy. This review identifies emerging technologies that enable resource recovery across the wastewater treatment cycle. As such, bioenergy in the form of biohydrogen (by photo and dark fermentation processes) and biogas (during anaerobic digestion processes) have been classic targets, whereby, direct transformation of lipidic biomass into biodiesel also gained attention. This concept is similar to previous biofuel concepts, but more sustainable, as third generation biofuels and other resources can be produced from waste biomass. The production of high value biopolymers (e.g., for bioplastics manufacturing) from organic acids, hydrogen, and methane is another option for carbon recovery. The recovery of carbon and nutrients can be achieved by organic fertilizer production, or single cell protein generation (depending on the source) which may be utilized as feed, feed additives, next generation fertilizers, or even as probiotics. Additionlly, chemical oxidation-reduction and bioelectrochemical systems can recover inorganics or synthesize organic products beyond the natural microbial metabolism. Anticipating the next generation of wastewater treatment plants driven by biological recovery technologies, this review is focused on the generation and re-synthesis of energetic resources and key resources to be recycled as raw materials in a cradle-to-cradle economy concept.

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Section: Resource Recovery For a Circular Economymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

et al. 2017

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“…The presence of diverse microbial communities may impact on site operations and fuel stability. Microorganisms can also play a significant role in the transformations of radionuclides in the environment by altering their chemical speciation, solubility and sorption properties, ultimately impacting their environmental mobility and bioavailability (Lloyd and Renshaw, 2005;Francis, 2012;Newsome et al, 2014a;MeGraw et al, 2018). For example, the interactions between microbial populations and soluble radionuclides in groundwater can lead to precipitation reactions [e.g., via U (VI) or Tc (VII) bioreduction] and subsequent bioremediation (Newsome et al, 2014b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of a Stable Hydrogen-Driven Microbiome in a Highly Radioactive Storage Facility on the Sellafield Site

et al. 2020

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The use of nuclear power has been a significant part of the United Kingdom’s energy portfolio with the Sellafield site being used for power production and more recently reprocessing and decommissioning of spent nuclear fuel activities. Before being reprocessed, spent nuclear fuel is stored in water ponds with significant levels of background radioactivity and in high alkalinity (to minimize fuel corrosion). Despite these challenging conditions, the presence of microbial communities has been detected. To gain further insight into the microbial communities present in extreme environments, an indoor, hyper-alkaline, oligotrophic, and radioactive spent fuel storage pond (INP) located on the Sellafield site was analyzed. Water samples were collected from sample points within the INP complex, and also the purge water feeding tank (FT) that supplies water to the pond, and were screened for the presence of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes to inform sequencing requirements over a period of 30 months. Only 16S rRNA genes were successfully amplified for sequencing, suggesting that the microbial communities in the INP were dominated by prokaryotes. Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) analysis targeting 16S rRNA genes suggested that bacterial cells in the order of 104–106 mL–1 were present in the samples, with loadings rising with time. Next generation Illumina MiSeq sequencing was performed to identify the dominant microorganisms at eight sampling times. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis suggested that 70% and 91% from of the OTUs samples, from the FT and INP respectively, belonged to the phylum Proteobacteria, mainly from the alpha and beta subclasses. The remaining OTUs were assigned primarily to the phyla Acidobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and, Cyanobacteria. Overall the most abundant genera identified were Hydrogenophaga, Curvibacter, Porphyrobacter, Rhodoferax, Polaromonas, Sediminibacterium, Roseococcus, and Sphingomonas. The presence of organisms most closely related to Hydrogenophaga species in the INP areas, suggests the metabolism of hydrogen as an energy source, most likely linked to hydrolysis of water caused by the stored fuel. Isolation of axenic cultures using a range of minimal and rich media was also attempted, but only relatively minor components (from the phylum Bacteroidetes) of the pond water communities were obtained, emphasizing the importance of DNA-based, not culture-dependent techniques, for assessing the microbiome of nuclear facilities.

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Biotransformation of Radionuclides: Trends and Challenges

Jabbar

Wallner

2015

Radionuclides in the Environment

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Impacts of microorganisms on radionuclides in contaminated environments and waste materials

Cited by 4 publications

References 151 publications

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

Resource Recovery from Wastewater by Biological Technologies: Opportunities, Challenges, and Prospects

Identification of a Stable Hydrogen-Driven Microbiome in a Highly Radioactive Storage Facility on the Sellafield Site

Biotransformation of Radionuclides: Trends and Challenges

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