– Senior Adviser: Mystery bacteria growing on nuclear fuel rods have unknown DNA sequence — “Right now we are trying to figure out what they’re using for food” (ENENews, Sep 7, 2012):
Title: SRS nuclear growth “biological,” but what does it eat?
Source: Augusta Chronicle
Author: Rob Pavey
Date: Sept. 6, 2012 4:23 PMA mysterious, cobweblike growth with a fondness for Savannah River Site’s spent nuclear fuel has been identified – but not formally named.
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The “white, stringlike” substance was first observed in October among old fuel assemblies
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“We were able to identify a large portion of the bacteria making up the cobwebs, but there were certainly some where the DNA sequencing came back as unknown,” [Christopher Berry, the senior technical adviser of the Savannah River National Labortory (sic)] said.
Although rare, bacterial colonies have been observed in a few nuclear environments, including a Canadian reactor and at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, where a growth developed in the site’s spent fuel basin after its 1979 accident.
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“Right now we are trying to figure out what these bacteria are using for food,” Berry said.
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Water in which spent fuel is stored is carefully filtered, treated and deionized
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