Research shows some algae might help reduce nuclear waste

Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 08:01 in Earth & Climate

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research conducted by Minna Krejci and her colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago, and published in ChemSusChem, suggests that the algae, Closterium moniliferum, might one day soon be used to help separate strontium from calcium in nuclear waste. If successful, the process could lead to a reduction in the amount of nuclear waste that is left over from nuclear power facilities, and might even help in cleanup when accidents occur such as the one in Chernobyl, Ukraine, that spewed great quantities of strontium into the surrounding environment (but not like the current situation in Fukushima, because there the problem is xenon and iodine). This is important because the amount of waste is piling up; currently around hundred million gallons of toxic sludge exist in just the United States.

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