Amplicon Sequencing Reveals Microbiological Signatures in Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Basins.

ABSTRACT: Water quality is an important determinant for the structural integrity of alloy cladded fuels and assemblies during long-term wet storage. Detailed characterization of a water filled storage basin for spent nuclear reactor fuel was performed following the formation and proliferation of an amorphous white flocculent. White precipitant was sampled throughout the storage basin for chemical and spectroscopic characterization, and environmental DNA was extracted for 454 pyrosequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA gene diversity. Accordingly, spectroscopic analyses indicated the precipitant to be primarily amorphous to crystalline aluminum (oxy) hydroxides with minor associated elemental components including Fe, Si, Ti, and U. High levels of organic carbon were co-localized with the precipitant relativ

SUBMITTER: Bagwell CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5854691 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature