Wissenschaftlich-Technische Berichte HZDR-059 Annual Report 2014 Institute of Resource Ecology Editor: Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stumpf Executive editors: Dr. Harald Foerstendorf Dr. Frank Bok Dr. Anke Richter Print edition: ISSN 2191-8708 Electronic edition: ISSN 2191-8716 The electronic edition is published under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND): Qucosa: http://fzd.qucosa.de/startseite/ Published by Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. Contact Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf e.V. Institute of Resource Ecology Postal Address Address for visitors P.O. Box 51 01 19 Bautzner Landstraße 400 D-01314 Dresden D-01328 Dresden Germany Germany Phone: +49 (0) 351 260 3210 Fax: +49 (0) 351 260 3553 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.hzdr.de/FWO This report is also available at http://www.hzdr.de/FWO Cover picture The complex hydrolysis reactions of the hexavalent uranium ion hamper an accurate evaluation of spectroscopic data due to coexisting species. State-of-the-art numerical algorithms or quantum-chemical methods reveal the spectral properties of single species or provide reasonable predictions of their spectral properties, respectively. In particular, a combination of spectroscopic and numerical methods is promising for the identification of single species and for the correlation with respective molecular structures (for more details see p. 35). − The cover figure shows a uranyl(VI) moiety coordinated by water molecules and competing acetate (CH 3COO ) anions. The uranyl(VI) ion can form acetate complexes with different stoichiometries depending on the prevail- ing ligand concentration. Emission spectra of single complexes extracted with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) from experimental data are shown in the background 2 HZDR | Institute of Resource Ecology | Annual Report 2014 Preface HE INSTITUTE OF RESOURCE ECOLOGY (IRE) ternational institutions with around 40 scientists is one of the eight institutes of the Helm- were involved. holtz-Zentrum Dresden – Rossendorf (HZDR). T Detailed numerical simulations of hypothetical acci- The research activities are mainly integrated into the dents in nuclear power plants are the basis for the program “Nuclear Waste Management, Safety and development and assessment of accident manage- Radiation Research (NUSAFE)” of the Helmholtz ment measures and strategies, which in the case of Association (HGF) and focused on the topics “Safe- multiple failures of safety systems can prevent or ty of Nuclear Waste Disposal” and “Safety Research mitigate core damages. On the basis of simulations for Nuclear Reactors”. for a station blackout scenario in a Russian-type Additionally, various activities have been started in- pressurized water reactor, it was shown that by ap- vestigating chemical and environmental aspects of plication of an optimized accident management processing and recycling of strategic metals, namely strategy the core heat-up can be delayed by several rare earth elements. These activities are located in hours. This additional time margin gives more time the HGF program “Energy Efficiency, Materials and and different possibilities for operator interventions, Resources (EMR)”. Both programs, and therefore all e.g., to restore power supply for additional measures work which is done at IRE, belong to the research to mitigate the accident. sector “Energy” of the HGF. The Reactive Transport division has broadened the The research objectives are the protection of humans library of different radiolabeling techniques for par- and the environment from hazards caused by pollu- ticles - in close international cooperation with the tants resulting from technical processes that produce JRC, Ispra Italy. Tracing of nanoparticles in minute energy and raw materials. Treating technology and concentrations in complex media became possible ecology as a unity is the major scientific challenge in with unprecedented experimental ease by either ra- assuring the safety of technical processes and gain- diochemical synthesis or proton irradiation methods ing their public acceptance. We investigate the eco- at the in-house cyclotron. Unique life-cycle studies logical risks exerted by radioactive and non- of nanoparticles were thusly made feasible, includ- radioactive metals in the context of nuclear waste ing the first ever imaging of carbon nanotube disposal, the production of energy in nuclear power transport in porous geological media via PET imag- plants, and in processes along the value chain of ing. metalliferous raw materials. A common goal is to Cells of Sporomusa sp. decrease the redox potential generate better understanding about the dominating in solutions containing plutonium in a higher amount processes essential for metal mobilization and im- than cells of Paenibacillus sp. Both cell types have mobilization on the molecular level by using ad- different strategies to handle the stress of plutonium. vanced spectroscopic methods. This in turn enables Paenibacillus sp. show a release of about 40% of the us to assess the macroscopic phenomena, including primary bound plutonium. An amount of 330 mg/L models, codes, and data for predictive calculations, cells of Sporomusa sp. show nearly the same influ- which determine the transport and distribution of ence to the redox chemistry of plutonium as 11 mg/L contaminants in the environment. sodium pyruvate. In presence of electron donors The extraordinary broadness of research topics and both strains of bacterial cells show an enrichment of activities are shown by some selected highlights in Pu(III) (70%) in the biomass. Without electron do- 2014: nors Pu(IV)-polymers are predominant. Cells of Sporomusa sp. have a higher binding capacity for One important event of the year 2014 was the organ- plutonium than cells of the Paenibacillus sp. strain. ization and hosting of ATAS 2014, the "Second In- ternational Workshop on Advanced Techniques in The quantitative assessment of low dose radiotoxici- Actinide Spectroscopy” in November, attracting 80 ty versus chemitoxicity has been demonstrated for scientists. Beside several outstanding scientific talks, the first time in living organisms. The metabolic heat the highlight was the discussion of the Round-Robin dissipation of bacteria was measured as a function of test, initiated at the beginning of 2014, where 20 in- the alpha activity of uranium isotopes and revealed non-lethal radiotoxic effects at low micromolar con- HZDR | Institute of Resource Ecology | Annual Report 2014 3 centrations of 233 U that are equivalent to the chemi- would also like to thank our scientific collaborators toxicity of natural uranium at 100 fold higher con- and the visiting scientists for coming to Dresden – centrations. The microcalorimetric approach opens Rossendorf in 2014 to share their knowledge and new approaches in correlating alpha energies at low experience with us. We will continue to strongly en- doses with metabolic impact and genetics. courage the collaborations and visits by scientists in the future. Special thanks are due to the executive At the Institute of Resource Ecology the dominating board of the HZDR, the Ministry of Science and surface species ( ≡FeO) NpO (H O) in the 2 2 2 3 Arts of the Free State Saxony (SMWK), the Federal Np(V)-hematite system was identified by a combi- Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the nation of in-situ ATR FT-IR and EXAFS. Further- Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology more, for the first time the belonging complex for- (BMWi), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft mation constants could be described consistently (DFG), the European Commission, and other organ- with all published sorption data bases. izations for their support. Beside these highlights, we obtained many other At the end of January, the large HGF strategic pro- new scientific results in the past year, which are pre- gram evaluation for “NUSAFE” took place in Jülich sented in this annual report. Furthermore, 60 original and Düsseldorf. I would like to address cordial papers were published in peer-reviewed international thanks to the high-ranked international review panel scientific journals. In the year 2014, more than 120 of this evaluation for taking the time and of course, scientists, technicians, and students working on their for the given extraordinary good marks. As a result, Ph.D., diploma, master, or bachelor thesis, were em- we will be able to focus on our research with a plan- ployed at the Institute of Resource Ecology. More ning reliability until 2020. than 30 Ph.D. students are working at the institute. Promotion of young scientists is an important re- quirement to ensure the competence and further sci- entific excellence in future times. I would like to thank the visitors, German and inter- Prof. Dr. Thorsten Stumpf Director of the national ones, for their interest in our research and Institute of Resource Ecology for their participation in the institute seminars. We 4 HZDR | Institute of Resource Ecology | Annual Report 2014 Contents SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS PART I: LONG-LIVED RADIONUCLIDES IN BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS Isolated microorganisms from the flooding water of a former uranium mine in Königstein (Saxony, Germany) and their interactions with uranium ........................................................................... 11 U. Gerber, E. Krawczyk-Bärsch, T. Arnold Biosorption studies of the halophilic archaea Halobacterium noricense DSM 15987 with uranium ............................................................................................................................................