Uranium is one of the important raw materials for the nuclear energy. However, the mining and processing of uranium lead to potential leaching and subsequent contamination of soil and water. At one of the nuclear reservations, Savannah River Site (SRS), uranium continues to pose threats to ecosystem health. Uranium exists in terms of uranyl (UO22+) in the oxic soil of SRS. Recently, a potential uranium remediation strategy has been discovered that UO22+ can be precipitated with the phosphate released by indigenous bacterial strains from uranium contaminated soil. This study investigated bacterial facilitated UO22+ transport with presence of phytate in SRS soil by column experiments. The complexation between indigenous bacteria and UO22+ was found have significant influence on the facilitated transport of UO22+. When the complexation reached equilibrium before the transport, the largest UO22+ recovery was obtained from column experiment. With presence of phytate, the immobilization of UO22+ was highly affected by pH condition. In the pH range of this study, more UO22+ was immobilized within SRS soil column as pH was increased.

Uranium-bacteria complexation and bacteria-facilitated uranium transport in the presence of phytate at Savannah River site

2019 Spring National Meeting

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