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The substantial decrease in solubility accompanying the reduction of U(VI) to U(IV), producing the sparingly soluble mineral uraninite, is viewed as a potential mechanism for the sequestration of environmental uranium contamination. In recent years, a variety of bacteria have been reported to exhibit this reductive capacity. To obtain an understanding of the microbial uranium transformation, to develop a practical approach for the acceleration of in-situ bioreduction, and to predict the long-term fate of environmental uranium, several aspects of the microbial reduction process have been experimentally explored. This dissertation outlines the research that investigates rates of microbial uranium reduction under various experimental conditions, probes the product(s) of enzymatic U(VI) reduction and elaborates the structure of one product –biogenic uraninite– demonstrating the structure- and reactivity-modifying effect of a dopant (Mn(II)) and lastly identifies the products of abiotic uranium reduction by biogenic magnetite and vivianite.

It has generally been assumed that the bioreduction of hexavalent uranium in groundwater systems will result in the precipitation of immobile uraninite (UO2). In order to explore the form and stability of uranium immobilized under these conditions, we introduced lactate (15 mM for 3 months) into flow-through columns containing sediments derived from a former uranium-processing site at Old Rifle, CO. This resulted in metal-reducing conditions as evidenced by concurrent uranium uptake and iron release. Despite initial augmentation with Shewanella oneidensis, bacteria belonging to the phylum Firmicutes dominated the biostimulated columns. The immobilization of uranium (similar to 1 mmol U per kg sediment) enabled analysis by Xray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Tetravalent uranium associated with these sediments did not have spectroscopic signatures representative of U-U shells or crystalline UO2. Analysis by microfocused XAS revealed concentrated micrometer regions of solid U(IV) that had spectroscopic signatures consistent with bulk analyses and a poor proximal correlation (mu m scale resolution) between U and Fe. A plausible explanation, supported by biogeochemical conditions and spectral interpretations, is uranium association with phosphoryl moieties found in biomass; hence implicating direct enzymatic uranium reduction. After the immobilization phase, two months of in situ exposure to oxic influent did not result in substantial uranium remobilization. Ex situ flow-through experiments demonstrated more rapid uranium mobilization than observed in column oxidation studies and indicated that sediment-associated U(IV) is more mobile than biogenic UO2. This work suggests that in situ uranium bioimmobilization studies and subsurface modeling parameters should be expanded to account for non-uraninite U(IV) species associated with biomass. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reductive bioremediation is currently being explored as a possible strategy for uranium-contaminated aquifers such as the Old Rifle site (Colorado). The stability of U(IV) phases under oxidizing conditions is key to the performance of this procedure. An in situ method was developed to study oxidative dissolution of biogenic uraninite (UO2), a desirable U(VI) bioreduction product, in the Old Rifle, CO, aquifer under different variable oxygen conditions. Overall uranium loss rates were 50-100 times slower than laboratory rates. After accounting for molecular diffusion through the sample holders, a reactive transport model using laboratory dissolution rates was able to predict overall uranium loss. The presence of biomass further retarded diffusion and oxidation rates. These results confirm the importance of diffusion in controlling in-aquifer U(IV) oxidation rates. Upon retrieval, uraninite was found to be free of U(VI), indicating dissolution occurred via oxidation and removal of surface atoms. Interaction of groundwater solutes such as Ca2+ or silicate with uraninite surfaces also may retard in-aquifer U loss rates. These results indicate that the prolonged stability of U(IV) species in aquifers is strongly influenced by permeability, the presence of bacterial cells and cell exudates, and groundwater geochemistry.