Environmental applications of XANES: Speciation of Tc in cement after chemical treatment and Se after bacterial uptake

XANES (X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy) has been employed to evaluate the efficacy of a process designed to encapsulate and reduce TcO4- in cement matrices, thereby immobilizing Tc. The oxidation state of Se following bioremediation of Se by bacteria has also been determined by XANES. The XANES measurements were performed at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL) and the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at the respective K edges of Tc (21.0 keV) and Se (12.7 keV). Comparison of the XANES spectra of Tc in untreated cement to Tc in slag treated cement and to the chemical shifts of reference materials, shows that the oxidation state of Tc is the same in both cements. Thus, the addition of a reducing agent to the cement formulation does not significantly reduce the TcO4-. The common soil bacterium, Bacillus subtilis, is known to incorporate Se on or within the cell wall when exposed to a Se(IV) solution. The Se XANES spectra of B. subtilis, as well as bacillus isolated from selenium rich soil, show that the organisms reduce selenite to the red allotrope of elemental Se. The first investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of a chemical reaction designed to slow the release of 99TcO4- in nuclear wasteform cements. The second investigation was to characterize the oxidation state of Se after microbial uptake from an aqueous solution by common soil bacteria, in order to provide information about the possible mechanisms of bioremediation