Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
AECL Research is developing a concept for the permanent disposal of nuclear fuel waste. A program to address the potential effects of microbial action on the integrity of the multiple barrier system, on which the disposal concept is based has been initiated. This microbial program focusses on answering specific questions in areas such as the survival and growth of microbes in compacted clay buffer materials and the potential consequences for container corrosion and microbial gas production; microbial effects on transport of radionuclides through the buffer into the geosphere; the presence and activity of microbes in deep granitic groundwaters; and the effects of biofilms on radionuclide migration in the geosphere.