Micans releases a new scientific article

2016-08-17

Micans has recently studied how a certain type of bacteria that can cause corrosion of metal could affect the future Belgian final disposal of high-level and long-lived radioactive waste. The results of this work are summarized in a new article in the journal Applied Clay Science.

The so-called Boom Clay formation in Mol, Belgium is studied as a reference that will resemble the future repository of Belgium's disposal of radioactive waste. This is being conducted in the underground laboratory HADES. The 100-meter thick layer of clay are remnants of an ancient sea floor and has a very high density. This high density makes it virtually impossible for the bacteria to be active and produce metal-corroding substances, such as these normally do as part of their metabolism. When the repository will be excavated to create tunnels for the radioactive waste, the conditions inside the clay may however be disturbed and bacteria around the tunnel can awake to life and potentially damage metal components and engineered barriers. This activation of bacteria at different densities have been investigated by Micans in the article Microbial sulphate-reducing activity overload pressure and density in
water saturated Boom Clay available to buy here.

Up until the 22nd of November 2016 the article can be read free of charge here.