Geobacter's Effectivness in the Removal of Uranium Essay

See Table 1 and Flow Chart 1 for results of Bacteria # 1 and Table 2 and Flow Chart 2 for results of Bacteria # 2.

Disposal of the high level nuclear waste that comes from nuclear power plants continues to be a big problem. It has been challenging and costly to find safe ways to store this waste. According to a report from the U.S National Academy of Sciences, it will take 3 million years for radioactive waste stored in the U.S. as of 1983 to decay to background levels (thinkquest.org). Who wants this amount of waste stored in the environment where they live? Currently in the U.S. nuclear power plants produce 3,000 tons of this high level waste each year (thinkquest.org). If nuclear power continues to be produced, this amount of waste will only continue to increase, causing a bigger dilemma as to what to do with the waste. As the waste is removed from the plant it still contains a high level of radiation. Exposure to radiation whether it occurs in the moving process or leakage from storage not only has a negative impact on the environment but also can pose a major health threat to humans. Based on the level of exposure, symptoms to humans can range from nausea and headaches to damage of nerve cells, loss of white blood cells and even death (think .org). The potential risk of exposure is not worth human life.

Deinococcus radiodurans is a member of the bacteria kingdom, belonging to the phylum Deinococcus-Thermus, and more specifically, the Deinococus genus. It is spherical in shape, and approximately 1.5 to 3.5 µm in diameter. It is usually found in tetrad formation: where four individual cells stick together. D. radiodurans isn 't known the cause any diseases, nor does it form endospores, and it stains gram positive. It is non-motile, and an obligate aerobic chemoorganoheterotroph. What makes D. radiodurans so unique, is its ability to withstand ionizing radiation, UV light, desiccation, and even oxidizing and reducing agents. When D. radiodurans was first discovered in 1956 by Arthur Anderson, it showed only a fraction of its amazing survivability. While Anderson was performing experiments to determine if canned food could be purified when exposed to high doses of gamma radiation: the meat still spoiled and from it D. radiodurans was isolated. Due to the fact that D. radiodurans can survive in such toxic situations, and that it is found in a wide variety of environments, scientists have long been toying with the idea of using D. radiodurans for bioremediation.

Bacteriophages were first discovered about 100 years ago by Frederick Twort and Felix D'Herelle. Bacteriophages or commonly known as “phages” are viruses that infect bacterial hosts. Bacteriophages come in multiple shapes and sizes. But a good amount of them are tailed viruses that contain double stranded DNA. The head of the bacteriophages has a protein shell which is attached to the tail. Some phages differ as some don’t have double stranded DNA they may be single stranded. Phages are incapable of reproducing on their own. In fact, they need a bacterial host to reproduce. Like any virus, bacteriophages are very fixed to discrete hosts. The host bacteria that we are using is called arthrobacter. Arthrobacter is a genus of bacteria found in soil (Pope et al 2016). Arthrobacter can help reduce hexavalent chromium which can cause some symptoms such as irritations to humans. Hexavalent chromium may also cause lung cancer if inhaled. The SEA PHAGE project was broken down into two parts. The first part which we are currently doing is isolating, purifying and amplifying the bacteria from our soil samples that we collected in the beginning of the year.

Today, a considerable amount of energy is provided by nuclear energy. The technology is well organized and developing every passing day and as a result the cost of operation is falling. Using radioactive resources to produce energy generates waste. Waste that contains radioactive materials is called nuclear waste. The secure and environmentally-friendly disposal of nuclear waste is a crucial aspect of nuclear power programs. [1]

Microbial Fuel Cells have a large variety of benefits due to its versatility and choice of fuel.

The purpose of this lab is to isolate photoheterotrophic bacteria using an enrichment culture from a sample of marine sediment. The enrichment culture provides the photoheterotrophic bacteria with specific conditions to promote growth.

Some scientists mind people that the South Australia Outback is the best, the safest, the most geologically and environmentally stable place on the planet to store the nuclear waste. (Valente,2016) However, as we know, Nuclear Waste is generally mixture of solids, liquids and gases which are produced during the generation of nuclear energy during fission, mining of uranium, nuclear research and weapons production. It is radioactive and that is the primary cause of the negative effects on human health and bodies. When humans are exposed to moderate radiation for a long time, it can lead to permanent problems and even lead to death. Nuclear waste radiation can damage or kill cells of people. Cancer is the primary health effect from radiation

Nuclear power in its not so finest form—nuclear waste—has recently sparked several debates and protesters. Major powers on all sides realize that a crucial situation has been thrust upon us by the aging nuclear reactor facilities across the nation. In the past two decades, research has been done on Yucca Mountain in order to assess the effectiveness of the location to become the nation’s comprehensive nuclear repository, AKA a Giant Radioactive Mountain. Yet, the hidden technology of reprocessing has somehow managed to escape the minds of many, or has been repressed by large organizations such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club. Reprocessing is recycling. Simple right, then why are we not utilizing this equipment to lower the amount of

Nearly 40 years of nuclear weapons production at Rocky Flats had left facilities, groundwater, soil, and surface waters contaminated with chemical and radioactive substances that posed potential health and safety risks to the public and workers” (Rocky Flats Plant (USDOE)). Accidents at those sites further contribute to environmental contamination. “Manufacturing activities, accidental industrial fires and spills, and support activities including waste management resulted in the release of hazardous and radioactive substances, hazardous wastes, and hazardous waste constituents to air, soil, sediment, groundwater, and surface water at Rocky Flats.” (Rocky Flats Plant (USDOE)). Similar to the contamination that is spread by the detonation of the atomic bomb, the contaminations caused by the manufacturing plants also have a very long half-life which means the contamination recovery from these sites will take a significant amount of time as well.

The extraordinarily resilient bacterial species of Bacillus pumilus has been observed to withstand inexorable quantities of ultraviolent radiation and extreme temperatures. During Curiosity’s launch, scientists meticulously sterilized the launcher and probe so as to eliminate Earth contaminants. However, several hundred strands of these invincible bacteria could have survived the decontamination process. Although it is miraculous for even the most tenacious of microbes to survive the excruciatingly high levels of Ultra C radiation past the Van Allen’s belt, scientists are suspicious that B. pumilus may have survived a seven month trek with outrageously low temperatures and ghastly high quantities of radiation. A United Nation Outer Space Treaty specified that only 300 microbial endospores per meter could exist in the landing site. These rather stringent guidelines provoked agitation in some astronomers, as exceeding the limit would void Curiosity’s mission warrant. This article will

A recent study conducted by a team of international researchers found microparticles containing uranium and other radioactive materials that were released by the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors. The study strongly indicates a need for further investigation on Fukushima fuel debris. The collection of more data on the released fuel fragments and particles can help the Tokyo Electric Power Company, otherwise known as TEPCO, improve their clean-up and decommissioning plan for the Fukushima Daiichi site and the surrounding exclusion zone.

The genus Halobacterium ("salt" or "ocean bacterium") consists of several species of the Archaea with an aerobic metabolism which requires an environment with a high concentration of salt; many of their proteins will not function in low-salt environments. They grow on amino acids in their aerobic conditions. Their cell walls are also quite different from those of bacteria, as ordinary lipoprotein membranes fail in high salt concentrations. In shape, they may be either rods or cocci, and in color, either red or purple. They reproduce using binary fission (by constriction), and are motile. Halobacterium grows best in a 42 °C environment. The genome of an unspecified Halobacterium species, sequenced by Shiladitya DasSarma, comprises 2,571,010

Ralstonia eutropha (R. eutropha) is a gram negative rod shaped (bacillus) bacteria which is catalase and oxidase positive (Yabuuchi et al, 1995) hence is a facultative anaerobe. R. eutropha has gone through a number of name changes including Hydrogenomonas eutrophus and Alcaligenes eutropha (Yabuuchi et al, 1995 and Repaske and Mayer 1976). It can be found in both fresh water and soil and is incredibly versatile as it can exist on only hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as an energy and carbon source (Pohlmann et al, 2006). Due to this versatility, R. eutropha has a number of beneficial uses.

Nuclear waste is also bad because of the cost to keep it in safe and contained areas. The nuclear business let's waste cool for a considerable length of time before blending it with glass and putting away it in enormous cooled, solid structures. This waste must be kept up, observed and