Engineering360: ""Starved" bacteria will eat metal"

I wonder if it could eat the nuclear spent rods? Could it survive the radioactivity to do so? Would the residue still be radioactive? Roaches can survive the microwave.

Would the residue still be radioactive?

The residue would still be radioactive. Radioactivity is a property of the atoms' nuclei, which are untouched by the chemical processes carried on by the bacteria. The radioactivity would increase the mutation rate of the bacteria.

Could it survive the radioactivity to do so?

Microbes are thriving in the radioactive remains of the Chernobyl reactor...

Microbial Life in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone - The Microbial Menagerie