Uranium mill tailings and related forms of low-level radioactive waste contain elevated contents of naturally occurring radionuclides that have been brought to the surface, processed for the recovery of uranium and/or other components and then disposed of in near-surface impoundments. The long-term fate of the tailings and their constituents will be determined by surficial earth processes. Project objectives are to study the chemical form in which radionuclides and selected stable elements are retained in surficial earth materials, particularly uranium mill tailings, and to identify processes operating in natural aqueous and terrestrial systems that may influence the transport of these constituents from these earth materials.
Microbes are essential in contributing to and maintaining the health of aquatic ecosystems. They form the base of food webs and mediate essential biogeochemical processes, including the degradation of xenobiotic contaminants. We are conducting basic research on the microbially mediated geochemical transformations of organic and inorganic compounds in a variety of marine and freshwater environments in order to define the chemical and microbial processes that transform, degrade, or otherwise affect a contaminant's fate and transport. For additional information, see the microbiology home page for this project.
