Bacteria identification and Isolation from spent nuclear fuel pools

The aim of the present research was to isolate and identify bacteria from spent nuclear fuel pools of a Spanish nuclear power plant. Water samples were collected and inoculated onto different culture media to isolate the highest number of species. Sequencing revealed the presence of 21 different bacteria belonging to several phylogenetic groups (a, β, and γ-Proteobacteria, Actinomycetales, Flavobacterium, and the Bacillus/Staphylococcus group). The isolation of these microorganisms in this particular environment (oligotrophic and radioactive) is highly interesting because of the possibility of their being used for the bioremediation of radionuclide-contaminated waters

Keywords:

Spent nuclear fuel pool , Radioactive water , Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis