• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2013

There was a study for biological characteristics, except for physico-chemical and mineralogical properties, on the natural bentonite that is considered as a buffer material for the high-level radioactive waste disposal site. A bentonite slurry that was prepared from a local 'Gyeongju bentonite' in Korea was incubated in a serum bottle with nutrient media over 1 week and its stepwise change was observed with time. From the activated bentonite in the nutrient media, we can find a certain change of both solid and liquid phases. Some dark and fine sulfides began to be generated from dissolved sulfate solution, and 4 species of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were identified as living cells in samples that were periodically taken and incubated. These results show that sulfate-reducing (or metal-reducing) bacteria are adhering and existing in the powder of bentonite, suggesting that there may be a potential occurrence of longterm biogeochemical effects in and around the bentonite buffer in underground anoxic environmental conditions.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.251-256
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• 2017

This study presents measures to enhance the efficiency of Successive Alkalinity Producing Systems(SAPS), a natural biological purification method that prevents environmental pollution arising from the release of Acid Mine Drainage(AMD) from abandoned mines into rivers and groundwater. The treatment of AMD using SAPS is based on biological processing technology that mostly involves sulfate reducing bacteria(SRB). It has been proven effective in real-world applications, and has been employed in various projects on the purification of AMD. However, seasonal decrease in temperature leads to a deterioration in the efficiency of the process because sulfate-reducing activity is almost non-existent during cold winters and early spring even if SRB is able to survive. Against this backdrop, this study presents measures to enhance the activity of the SRB of the organic layer by integrating light emitting diode(LED)s in SAPS and to maintain the active temperature using LEDs in cold winters. Given that mine drainage facilities are located in areas where power cannot be easily supplied, solar cell modules are proposed as the main power source for LEDs. By conducting further research based on the present study, it will be possible to enhance the efficiency of AMD treatment under extreme cold weather using solar energy and LEDs, which will serve as an environmentally-friendly solution in line with the era of green growth.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.445-455
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• 2009

Microbiological sulfate reduction is the transformation of sulfate to sulfide catalyzed by the activity of sulfate-reducing bacteria using sulfate as an electron acceptor. Low solubility of metal sulfides leads to precipitation of the sulfides in solution. The effects of microbiological sulfate reduction on in-situ precipitation of arsenic and copper were investigated for the heavy metal-contaminated soil around the Songcheon Au-Ag mine site. Total concentrations of As, Cu, and Pb were 1,311 mg/kg, 146 mg/kg, and 294 mg/kg, respectively, after aqua regia digestion. In batch-type experiments, indigenous sulfate-reducing bacteria rapidly decreased sulfate concentration and redox potential and led to substantial removal of dissolved As and Cu from solution. Optimal concentrations of carbon source and sulfate for effective microbial sulfate reduction were 0.2~0.5% (w/v) and 100~200 mg/L, respectively. More than 98% of injected As and Cu were removed in the effluents from both microbial and chemical columns designed for metal sulfides to be precipitated. However, after the injection of oxygen-rich solution, the microbial column showed the enhanced long-term stability of in-situ precipitated metals when compared with the chemical column which showed immediate increase in dissolved As and Cu due to oxidative dissolution of the sulfides. Black precipitates formed in the microbial column during the experiments and were identified as iron sulfide and copper sulfide. Arsenic was observed to be adsorbed on surface of iron sulfide precipitate.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2010

Removal and mineralization of dissolved uranium by bacteria in KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel), Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) was investigated. Two different bacteria, IRB (iron-reducing bacteria) and SRB (sulfate-reducing bacteria) was used, and minerals formed by these bacteria were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Compared to uranyl ions, ferric ions were preferentially reduced by IRB, showing that there is no significant reduction and removal of uranium. However, uranium concentration considerably decreased by addition of Mn(II). Results show that a sulfide mineral such as mackinawite (FeS) is formed by SRB respiration through combination of Fe(II) and S without manganese sulfide formation. In the presence of Mn(II), however, uranium is removed effectively, suggesting that the sorption and incorporation of uranium could be affected by Mn(II) onto the sulide minerals.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.155-162
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• 2012

We observed characteristic oxidation and dissolution phenomena induced by dissolved oxygen for mackinawite that is produced via sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) living in anaerobic environments such as soils and groundwater. We tried to recognize the role of the sulfide minerals that usually coexist with some stabilized radionuclides (e.g., reduced uranium), which can be reoxidized and redissolved by an oxygen-rich groundwater invaded into a contaminated area. The mackinawite produced by 'Desulfovibrio desulfuricans', a sulfate-reducing bacterium, was conducted to be dissolved for 2 weeks by some oxidants such as 'hydrogen peroxide' and 'sodium nitrite'. Although mineralogical oxidation and dissolution characteristics were different from each other according to the oxidants, the initially oxidized solution was early stabilized through the oxygen consumption by ${\mu}m$-sized sulfide particles and the resultant increase of sulfate in solution. From these results, we can anticipate that the large amount of sulfide minerals generated by SRB can not only repress the anoxic environment to be disturbed by the consumption of oxygen in groundwater, but also contribute to stabilize the reduced/precipitated radionuclides as a buffer material for a long time.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2014

As we are trying to in-situ treat (purify or immobilize) heavy metals or radionuclides in groundwater, one of the geochemical factors to be necessarily considered is the value of oxidation/reduction potential (ORP) of the groundwater. A biogeochemical impact on the characteristic ORP change of groundwater taken from the KAERI underground was observed as a function of time by adding electron-donor (lactate), electron-acceptor (sulfate), and indigenous bacteria in a laboratory condition. There was a slight increase of Eh (slow oxidation) of the pure groundwater with time under a $N_2$-filled glove-box. However, most of groundwaters that contained lactate, sulfate or bacteria showed Eh decrease (reduction) characteristics. In particular, when 'Baculatum', a local indigenous sulfate-reducing bacterium, was injected into the KAERI groundwater, it turned to become a highly-reduced one having a decreased Eh to around -500 mV. Although the sulfate-reducing bacterium thus has much greater ability to reduce groundwater than other metal-reducing bacteria, it surely necessitated some dissolved ferrous-sulfate and finally generated sulfide minerals (e.g., mackinawite), which made a prediction for subsequent reactions difficult. As a result, the ORP of groundwater was largely affected even by a slight injection of nutrient without bacteria, indicating that oxidation state, solubility and sorption characteristics of dissolved contaminants, which are affected by the ORP, could be changed and controlled through in-situ biostimulation method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.187-188
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• 2010

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.263-270
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• 2012

Two kinds of uranium species, oxidized uranium(VI) and reduced uranium(IV), were prepared to be interacted with goethite and montmorillonite to identify sorption characteristic of uranium species, which are very sensitive to the redox-reaction. The reduced uranium was prepared by diluting a substantial uranium(IV) that was concomitantly produced during a sulfate reduction via a sulfate-reducing bacterium. The sorption amount of uranium(IV) by the minerals was relatively lower than that of uranium(VI) because the aqueous uranium(IV) had fine colloidal forms to cause its weak adsorption onto the mineral surfaces. We found that the uranium(IV) phase has a nano-colloid character by the transmission electron microscope, suggesting that the uranium species possibly migrating with the flow of groundwater in underground environments can be the colloidal uranium(IV) as well as the ionic uranium(VI).

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.217-224
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• 2011

Removal of dissolved selenium by D. michiganensis, a iron-reducing bacterium, and effects of dissolved metal elements such as iron, sulfate, and copper were investigated. Selenide that was reduced from selenite (2 mM) by D. michiganensis was gradually removed from the aqueous medium. As the reduced selenide was combined with aqueous iron, it was precipitated as a nanoparticulate iron-selenide. Sulfate and copper negatively affected the microbial selenite reduction, and the copper was especially toxic to the bacterium, inhibiting a microbial removal of dissolved selenite. These results show that it should be carefully biotreated for a selenium-contaminated site considering in situ sulfate or copper distribution and concentration. Consequently, the formation of iron-selenide by bacteria will be an important measure for preventing a long-distance migration of selenium in the subsurface environments.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.210-224
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• 2003

Sulfate reduction is a microbiological process which occurs ubiquitously in anaerobic marine environment. Sulfate reducing bacteria play a significant role in anaerobic decomposition of organic matter and regeneration of inorganic nutrients which supports the primary production in the water column (i.e., benthic-pelagic coupling) and, in special case, could be responsible for the harmful algal bloom in the coastal marine environment. Summary of the sulfate reduction rates reported in various marine sedimentary environments revealed that supply of organic substrates and presence of various electron acceptors (i.e., $O_2$, NO$_{3}$$^{[-10]}$ , Fe(III) and Mn(IV), etc.) for other aerobic and anaerobic respiration directly affect the sulfate reduction rate and relative significance of sulfate reduction in organic matter mineralization. Significance of temperature, macrophytes and bioturbation is discussed as factors controlling supply of organic substrates and distribution of electron acceptors. Finally, we suggest studies on the anaerobic microbiological processes associated with biogeochemical element cycles in the coastal environments of Korea where massive operation of organic enriched fish cage farm, frequent occurrence of toxic algal bloom and hypoxia and conservation of tidal flat are of major environmental issues.