A species of green algae, only 0.01 millimeter insize, can effectively eliminate radioactive cesium and strontium, accordingto researchers at the University of Yamanashi and Toho University.
A species of green algae, only 0.01 millimeter insize, can effectively eliminate radioactive cesium and strontium, accordingto researchers at the University of Yamanashi and Toho University.
The algae was discovered five years ago byYasuhiro Yukawa, president of Japan Biomass Corp., a venture business based inKashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, in a waste fluid treatment facility at a platingplant. The single-celled algae species with a large chlorophyll content wasidentified as a newly discovered species and named "parachlorella sp.binos."
Katzuhiko Itoh, a project director at the KitasatoInstitute, suggested that the algae could be used to decontaminateradioactivity because they have active vital processes and can ingest a varietyof substances.
The algae will be used to wash soil and be pastedon building walls and road surfaces like paint in a decontamination experimentscheduled for November in a residential quarter in Date, Fukushima Prefecture.
When Hiroki Shimura, a research associate at theUniversity of Yamanashi's Faculty of Medicine, and coworkers conducted anexperiment using radioactive water sampled in Fukushima Prefecture, the algaeremoved 80 percent of radioactive strontium and 40 percent of cesium in 10minutes. It is thought that the algae's secretions, which stick to their cellwalls, absorb and retain the radioactive substances.
Yukawa said the binos algae can easily bemultiplied in a culture because their cells divide fast. They may also help tolessen the amount of post-decontamination waste because the algae lose about 90percent in weight when dried. Yukawa hopes to cooperate with other enterprisesin the future to help treat radioactive water and decontaminate farmland andresidential quarters using the algae.
November's experiment is meant to find out if thealgae can be used to decontaminate building walls and road surfaces by applyingthe algae like paint and scraping them off after they have absorbed theradioactive material and dried off.