The Microbiology of Nuclear Waste Disposal

Jonathan R. Lloyd, Andrea Cherkouk

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780128186961
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Environmental Science
• Index: Biological Sciences

The Microbiology of Nuclear Waste Disposal is a state-of-the-art reference featuring contributions focusing on the impact of microbes on the safe long-term disposal of nuclear waste. This book is the first to cover this important emerging topic, and is written for a wide audience encompassing regulators, implementers, academics, and other stakeholders. The book is also of interest to those working on the wider exploitation of the subsurface, such as bioremediation, carbon capture and storage, geothermal energy, and water quality.

Planning for suitable facilities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia has been based mainly on knowledge from the geological and physical sciences. However, recent studies have shown that microbial life can proliferate in the inhospitable environments associated with radioactive waste disposal, and can control the long-term fate of nuclear materials. This can have beneficial and damaging impacts, which need to be quantified.

• Encompasses expertise from both the bio and geo disciplines, aiming to foster important collaborations across this disciplinary divide
• Includes reviews and research papers from leading groups in the field
• Provides helpful guidance in light of plans progressing worldwide for geological disposal facilities
• Includes timely research for planning and safety case development

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Organic-containing nuclear wastes and national inventories across Europe
• Chapter 2: The microbiology of natural analogue sites
• Chapter 3: Microbial metabolic potential in deep crystalline bedrock
• Chapter 4: Molecular techniques for understanding microbial abundance and activity in clay barriers used for geodisposal
• Chapter 5: Potential microbial influence on the performance of subsurface, salt-based nuclear waste repositories
• Chapter 6: Microbially influenced corrosion of container material
• Chapter 7: Bentonite geomicrobiology
• Chapter 8: Microbial colonization of cementitious geodisposal facilities, and potential “biobarrier” formation
• Chapter 9: Microbial impacts on gas production in LLW/ILW
• Chapter 10: Organic materials and their microbial fate in radioactive waste
• Chapter 11: Microbial transformations of radionuclides in geodisposal systems
• Chapter 12: Modeling of microbial processes to support the safety case for nuclear waste disposal
• Chapter 13: Communication and stakeholder engagement of microbiology in radioactive waste disposal
• Author Index
• Subject Index