Deliverable 3.4: Year two synthesis report

Microbiology In Nuclear waste Disposal (MIND) is a multidisciplinary project with the goal of addressing key microbiology technical issues that must be tackled to support the implementation of planned waste disposal across the EU. The project addresses in specific the influence of microbial processes on organic waste forms and their behaviour (WP1), and on the technical and long-term performance of repository components (WP2). This report is a synthesis of the outcome of the experimental and modelling research activities in WP1 and WP2, performed over the first 2 years of the project. The scope of the report is broad, covering all completed scientific and ‘in progress’ projects contained within MIND. The emphasis in this report is on the description of the degradation processes that can be expected and the environmental boundary conditions under which they can occur. The kinetics of these processes are not featured prominently here, but will become an increasingly prioritised aspect of the MIND project throughout the remainder of its tenure, and a next update of this report.