Bacteria in Nuclear Reactors

[Ronald Morgan <rgmorgan@lanl.gov>]

Hi folks,
In the May/June issue of The Planetary Report (a publication for the
members of the Planetary Society, a space-exploration advocacy group which
is not noticeably [so far] an anti-nuc group.  See their web site at
http://www.planetary.org), Christopher Chyba said (in part) "bacteria have
adapted to survive the levels of radiation common in the cooling water of
nuclear reactors."

I'd be a bit surprised to learn that bacteria could survive in the primary
or secondary loops of a power reactor...but there's a bunch of other
possibilities.  Does anyone know anything about bacteria in reactor cooling
water?
Thanx, ron
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       Ron Morgan <rgmorgan@lanl.gov>
       Operational Health Physics (ESH-1)
       Los Alamos National Laboratory
       MS E-503, Los Alamos New Mexico, 87545 (USA)
       Phone (505) 665-7843
       Fax   (505) 667-1009
       Voice pager 104-1787

	 mailto:rgmorgan@lanl.gov

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