Researchers claim that common fresh water algae can be used to isolate radioactive strontium from water and can therefore help to clean up nuclear waste. Scientists at Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory have been working to find out how this may be done.
Northwestern reported that Strontium 90 is a dangerous fission material that is created within a nuclear reactor and is so common in nuclear waste, that it is present in all the 80 million gallons of radioactive waste-sludge stored in the United States. Strontium 90, which has a half-life of 30 years, is very similar to calcium chemically, and in this way, it is drawn to bone, creating a high cancer risk from exposure. One of the bright green algae often seen in ponds called Closterium moniliferum can isolate and then form a compound with strontium in the form of barium-strontium-sulfate crystals.
This knowledge could lead to direct bioremediation (the use of naturally occurring or deliberately introduced organisms to consume or break down environmental pollutants so as to clean up a polluted site) of waste or accidental spills. "Nuclear waste cleanup is a problem we have to solve," senior researcher Derk Joester, who experienced Chernobyl's radioactive fallout when he was a teenager living in southern Germany, said.
How is it possible for a simple and common plant to sequester strontium in the form of barium-strontium-sulfate crystals? How exactly will the clean-up of nuclear waste by algae be implemented? Are there any problems with this method?
Source:
"Scientists eye algae for nuclear cleanup." Science Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 7 Apr. 2011. .
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