Some Russian researchers from the Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry, along with the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Federal Research Center for Biotechnology recently isolated some microorganisms that can actually be used to neutralize the environment from any liquid nuclear waste. The researchers in question were doing a microbiological study on the water at the deep radiation burial site in Seversk, named Seversky, in Siberia when they came across this new discovery. This site has liquid nuclear waste that comes from the Siberian Chemical Combine, where the low enriched uranium that’s used for nuclear fuel is stored, supplied and reprocessed. The scientists also recently published their discovery in a Russian scientific journal named Radioactive Waste. According to them, this bacteria can easily convert the radionuclide ions, even the ones that are found in uranium and plutonium, and turn it into sedentary forms. This way, it prevents the spreading of any dangerous radiation to any surrounding environment, and therefore, neutralizing it. And thanks to plenty of experiments in the lab, these scientists were also able to find out the exact conditions that the bacteria needs to do its magic.
The Things 7th Nov 2018 read more »