Re: Bacteria in Nuclear Reactors

[jeff.king@srs.gov]

     Back in Environmental Microbiology class (something like 8 years ago), 
     we discussed the archaebacteria and other microbes that have been 
     found in extremely harsh environments.  Places like the outskirts of 
     boiling hot springs, the bottom of the Marianas trench, the arctic, 
     and saturated salt lakes.  One of the the beasties that came up was 
     radiococcus microdurans (SP?) which, if I recall correctly, had been 
     cultured out of the primary cooling loop of a nuclear reactor.  Memory 
     serves to tell me that the bacterium was capable of surviving 
     exposures up to one megarad.  Don't have my class notes anymore, so I 
     can't verify this, but I believe the report of a bacteria adapted to 
     life in a reactor is correct.
     
     It is not clear to me how reporting this fact has the potential to 
     make the Planetary Society an anti-nuke group.
     
     Jeff King
     Facility Representative
     US Dept. of Energy
     Savannah River Operations Office


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Bacteria in Nuclear Reactors
Author:  rgmorgan@lanl.gov at Mailhub
Date:    5/11/98 2:58 PM


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
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