Biogeochemical Factors of Cs, Sr, U, Pu Immobilization in Bottom Sediments of the Upa River, Located in the Zone of Chernobyl Accident
Darya Zelenina,
Natalia Kuzmenkova,
Denis Sobolev,
Kirill Boldyrev,
Zorigto Namsaraev,
Grigoriy Artemiev,
Olga Samylina,
Nadezhda Popova,
Alexey Safonov
Affiliations
Darya Zelenina
A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, RAS, Obrucheva Str. 40, Moscow 117342, Russia
Natalia Kuzmenkova
Radiochemistry Division, Faculty of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory, Moscow 119991, Russia
Denis Sobolev
Nuclear Safety Institute, RAS, Bolshaya Tulskaya St. 52, Moscow 115191, Russia
Kirill Boldyrev
Nuclear Safety Institute, RAS, Bolshaya Tulskaya St. 52, Moscow 115191, Russia
Zorigto Namsaraev
Kurchatov Centre for Genome Research, NRC Kurchatov Institute, Akad. Kurchatov Sq., 2, Moscow 123098, Russia
Grigoriy Artemiev
A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, RAS, Obrucheva Str. 40, Moscow 117342, Russia
Olga Samylina
Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Centre for Biotechnology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospect 60-Letiya Oktyabrya 7/2, Moscow 117312, Russia
Nadezhda Popova
A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, RAS, Obrucheva Str. 40, Moscow 117342, Russia
Alexey Safonov
A.N. Frumkin Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry, RAS, Obrucheva Str. 40, Moscow 117342, Russia
Laboratory modeling of Cs, Sr, U, Pu immobilization by phytoplankton of the river Upa, affected after the Chernobyl accident, has been carried out. Certain conditions are selected for strong fixation of radionuclides in bottom sediments due to biogeochemical processes. The process of radionuclide removal from the water phase via precipitation was based on their accumulation by phytoplankton, stimulated by nitrogen and phosphorus sources. After eight days of stimulation, planktonic phototrophic biomass, dominated by cyanobacteria of the genus Planktothrix, appears in the water sample. The effectiveness of U, Pu and Sr purification via their transfer to bottom sediment was observed within one month. The addition of ammonium sulfate and phosphate (Ammophos) led to the activation of sulfate- and iron-reducing bacteria of the genera Desulfobacterota, Desulfotomaculum, Desulfosporomusa, Desulfosporosinus, Thermodesulfobium, Thiomonas, Thiobacillus, Sulfuritallea, Pseudomonas, which form sulphide ferrous precipitates such as pyrite, wurtzite, hydrotroillite, etc., in anaerobic bottom sediments. The biogenic mineral composition of the sediments obtained under laboratory conditions was verified via thermodynamic modeling.
