Abstract

Methane bacteria were detected in leachate samples collected from commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites. Significant amounts of tritiated and carbon-14 methane were generated by a mixed methanogenic culture from a leachate sample collected from the low-level radioactive waste disposal site, Maxey Flats, KY. Tritiated methane was produced by methane bacteria from synthetic media containing 2 mCi of tritium as tritiated water or tritiated acetate, and the level of tritium added to the medium had no effect on methanogenesis. Under anaerobic conditions the organic compounds containing 14C and 3H activity and tritiated water in the waste are metabolized by microorganisms and they produce radioactive gases which escape into the environment from the disposal sites.

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