Microbial investigations on unperturbed Opalinus clay samples
Titre du congrès :Clays in natural and engineered barriers for radioactive waste confinement Ville du congrès :Tours Date du congrès :14/03/2005
In the context of radioactive waste repositories, microbial activity is being investigated to assess its catalytic influence on porewater chemistry and mineralogy and on the long term performance of the barrier system. Processes such as canister corrosion, retention and transport of radionuclides and gas production may be partially mediated by microbial activity (see e.g. West et al., 2002). Microbes are either indigenous in the host rock or are introduced with the emplaced materials during the open phase of a repository. In the study presented here the potential occurrence of autochthonous (indigenous) microbes and their community structure in Opalinus Clay were investigated