Bacteria Convert Dissolved Uranium into Stable Form, Offering New Cleanup Method

Scientists at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, together with Wismut GmbH and the University of Granada, proved that bacteria supplied with glycerol can transform dissolved uranium in mine water into a highly stable chemical form. In oxygen-free lab tests using water from a flooded uranium mine in the Ore Mountains, the microbes removed roughly 95 % of the uranium within 130 days, incorporating it into their cell walls.

Microscopy and spectroscopy at the Rossendorf Beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility identified the uranium as predominantly pentavalent, forming the compound FeU(V)O₄ with iron and oxygen. This mineral has persisted for decades in other contexts and stayed stable even when dried bacterial biomass was re-exposed to oxygen. The researchers suggest that such bacterial activity could be harnessed for remediation of uranium-contaminated sites, though further study is required to gauge practical feasibility.