[ RadSafe ] Radioactive Reindeer

[Dan McCarn]

Hi -

The French even tried a test plot in Belarus (Gomel Forest, within the
exclusion zone) to determine if mushrooms could effectively remediate
forest soils. The idea was to allow the mushrooms to grow and then harvest
them for disposal. They were termed "hyperaccumulators".

The Cs & Sr both have high cation exchange selectivities, so they were
preferentially adsorbed in the humus zone of soils, given that the humus
had very high ion exchange capacities. The problem with that is the
recurring forest fires in the non-economic forests (due to Chernobyl).
Since the exclusion zone was not being actively harvested for timber, fire
lanes & breaks became overgrown, and the resulting fires burned through the
humus zone redistributing the Cs & Sr to the winds. We proposed a project
to utilize the contaminated forest biomass for power generation, then
encapsulating the ash for disposal.

See:

McCarn, D., Dubovik, L., Iakoushev, A., and Grebenkov, A. (1996): The
Ecological-Commerce (ECO-COM) Zone Concept for Developing Biomass Energy
from Contaminated Resources: A New Demonstration Zone for the Republic of
Belarus, in International Topical Meeting on Nuclear and Hazardous Waste
Management, Seattle, Washington, August 18-23, 1996, pp. 1417-1424.
http://books.google.com/books/about/Proceedings_of_the_International_Topical.html?id=NR9SAAAAMAAJ

and

Grebenkov, A. and McCarn, D.W. (1996): The US-Belarus Joint Projects
Associated with Remediation of the Chernobyl Contaminated Sites,
Environmental Opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly
Independent States, in Partnerships for Solutions Forum, Colorado School of
Mines, Golden, Colorado, p. 19-35.

Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-672-2014 (Home – New Mexico)
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com

On Tue, Oct 7, 2014 at 6:18 AM, Estabrooks, H Bates (IHK) <
estabrookshb at y12.doe.gov> wrote:

> http://rt.com/news/193512-norway-radioactive-deer-chernobyl/
>
> Do mushrooms selectively take up Cesium?
>
> Bates Estabrooks
> Y-12 NSC
> Radiological Control Engineer-Staff Training
> Radiological Controls Emergency Program Coordinator
> 865-574-7376
>
> _______________________________________________
> You are currently subscribed to the RadSafe mailing list
>
> Before posting a message to RadSafe be sure to have read and understood
> the RadSafe rules. These can be found at:
> http://health.phys.iit.edu/radsaferules.html
>
> For information on how to subscribe or unsubscribe and other settings
> visit: http://health.phys.iit.edu
>