Nama : Alief Raditia Ali

No. BP : 2010943011
Kelas : Mikrobiologi Lingkungan TL C

Progress of uranium-contaminated soil bioremediation technology

1. Introduction

Uranium is a dense, hard silvery white metal. Uranium is the highest atomic number in nature. The
widespread use of uranium, which seriously pollutes the surrounding soil and water, poses severe
healthy risk to residents. Therefore, for uranium contamination, we should consider the
concentration, dose rate of uranium in the surrounding soil where the in habitants live and explore
effective soil remediation techniques, in order to put forward better suggestions for citizens.

• Assessment indicators of uranium-contaminated soil

In general, some certain parameter indexes are needed to evaluate the degree of uranium-
contaminated soil. The degree of pollution includes three types: light pollution, medium pollution
and heavy pollution. Geological accumulation index can be used to assess the level of uranium
contamination.

• Soil remediation technology and characteristics

In principle, soil remediation techniques can be roughly divided into physical remediation, chemical
remediation and bioremediation the main types and characteristics are shown In.

2. Principles of soil remediation technology

Treatment and remediation of uranium-contaminated soil mainly include two categories:

(i) Separation of uranium, the use of engineering physical, chemical or biological methods to reduce
the total amount of uranium directly in the soil.
(ii) Fixation of uranium, by changing the form of uranium in the soil or the combination with the soil,
to reduce the uranium transportability

3. Bioremediation technology of uranium-contaminated soil

Bioremediation uses some special plant or microbial systems to remove pollutants in soil and water,
or to reduce the toxicity of pollutants, which can restore the polluted environment in appearance
and function. Bioremediation technology of uranium-contaminated soil mainly includes:

(i) Phytoremediation technology;

(ii) Microbial remediation technology;
(iii)Plant-microbial joint remediation technology.
Explanation:
(i) Phytoremediation technology
Phytoremediation is a green remediation technology. Some plants, such as Indian mustard and
sunflower, can fix and degrade the pollutants from uranium contaminated soil due to their
accumulation capability of certain heavy metals and tolerance to these toxics, which can achieve
the purpose of controlling heavy metal pollution its principle shows. At present,
phytoremediation technology mainly includes:
1. Plant curing technology;
2. Plant degradation technology;
3. Plant extraction.

(ii) Microbial remediation technology;

Microbial remediation technology is the metabolic effect of microorganisms to absorb,

precipitate, oxidize and restore uranium in the soil, and converting radionuclide uraniu into low
toxic products. The principles of microbial remediation in uranium-contaminated soil include
dissolution, precipitation or mineralization of uranyl ions; adsorption and enrichment of soil
uranium by microorganisms and redox of soil uranium.

(iii) Plant-microbial joint remediation technology.

Combined plant-microbial remediation refers to the combination of phytoremediation and
microbial remediation technology, making full use of the advantages of the two remediation
methods improving the soil environment, promoting the absorption of radionuclides by plants,
and thus improving the remediation efficiency.
Among the types of plant-microbial joint repair, mycorrhizal remediation is more studied.
Mycorrhizal is a combination of fungal hyphae in soil and higher plant roots. Mycorrhizal
remediation technology is mainly based on the principle that mycorrhizal bacteria can absorb and
accumulate heavy metals, and enhance the resistance of plants to heavy metals through the
transformation and transport of mycelium (Dong et al., 2010). Therefore, mycorrhizal
remediation uses the characteristics of hyphae and plants to improve the efficiency of soil
remediation.

4. Conclusion

From the perspective of current research hot spots, bioremediation has some advantages, such as simple
operation, low cost, environmental friendliness and so on. It has become the current prospect technology
for repairing uranium-contaminated soil compared with other physical and chemical methods.
Bioremediation is also the key focus of future research. However, there are still some problems in
bioremediation technology, such as soil type, presence of organic matter, co-ions along with soil pH and
uranium species could affect the efficiency of any strategy used.