Abstract
The toxicities of uranyl and vanadyl ions and of tri‐ and tetravalent cations towards the activity of a Citrobacter phosphatase were investigated. The oxycations were inhibitory, but uranyl ion inhibition was overcome in the presence of excess organic phosphate substrate. Precipitation of uranyl ion with liberated inorganic phosphate was implicated as a detoxification mechanism which was substantiated using immobilized cells in a flow‐through bioreactor. Application of these studies to the design of a process to treat actinide‐bearing aqueous wastes is discussed.

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