DOE REDUCES RADIATION IN CHERNOBYL-AREA FOODS

["Stuart.Altman" <Stuart.Altman@dp.doe.gov>]

     Below is a U.S. Department Of Energy Press Release on reducing 
     radiation in Chernobyl-Area Foods.  Please note, I did not write 
     this.
     
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     NEWS MEDIA CONTACTS:                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
     Barbara Wetherell or Amber Jones,    April 25, 1996 202/586-5806
     
     
     U.S. PARTNERS USE HIGH-TECH MEANS TO REDUCE RADIATION IN 
     CHERNOBYL-AREA FOOD; AIDS U.S. NONPROLIFERATION GOALS    
     
     The Department of Energy today announced joint funding of a 
     $1 million project in Ukraine that will remove Chernobyl-related 
     radiation from foods while furthering U.S. nuclear on 
     proliferation goals.  Selentec of Atlanta, Georgia, which has 
     developed a technology for treating radiation-contaminated water, 
     will invest almost half of the funding and join DOE's Argonne 
     Laboratory in putting its technology into use in Ukraine.  
     Selentec recently demonstrated in tests at Argonne that it could 
     remove 95 percent of the radioactive cesium in Ukrainian milk.
     
     Nuclear weapons scientists, engineers and technicians at the 
     Ukraine Institutes of Nuclear Research and Superhard Materials 
     will also work with the Argonne and Selentec specialists to 
     remove radioactive cesium from several food products, starting 
     with milk and later including drinking water, juice, and baby 
     food.  The project furthers the U.S. nuclear nonproliferation 
     goal of preventing "brain drain" in the Newly Independent States 
     by providing nonmilitary projects that can help stabilize the 
     technology base at local institutes while promoting trade and 
     investment opportunities for U.S. industry.  The food-treatment 
     program is one of more than 200 under way or completed that 
     involve the former defense institutes of the Newly Independent 
     States and U.S. laboratories.  About 15 percent of these projects 
     involve U.S. industrial partners in cooperative work aimed at 
     commercializing products or processes.
     
     The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident contaminated large 
     land areas in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, primarily from 
     fission product fallout.  The dose to humans in Ukraine is mostly 
     due to food ingestion, and about 80 percent of that dose is from 
     cesium in milk.  Food production has been greatly reduced, 
     driving up prices, and the milk, juice, and baby food that are 
     produced contain levels of contamination that, although below 
     maximum permissible levels, prevent the products from being 
     exported.  In addition, water in Ukraine is not considered safe 
     to drink, and drinking water is provided primarily by imported 
     bottled water, increasing the stress on the Ukrainian economy.
     
     The Ukraine proposal, while providing health and economic 
     benefits for Ukraine, will further the work needed to 
     commercialize the Selentec technology by demonstrating it can 
     decontaminate milk, juice, baby food and water.  Full tests would 
     be performed in accordance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration 
     protocols to demonstrate that the treated food is safe for human 
     consumption.
     
     DOE's Office of Nonproliferation and National Security will fund 
     the first phase of the program, to demonstrate and test the 
     technology for milk and water in Ukraine, with $80,000, then will 
     provide $480,000 for the second phase of implementing the process 
     for juice and baby food.  Selentec will also spend $480,000 on 
     the detailed design and fabrication of the milk treatment process 
     for use in Ukraine.  Following demonstration of the technology in 
     Ukraine, Selentec will establish a Ukrainian business venture for 
     private sector application of the technology in Ukraine, Belarus, 
     and Russia.
     
     The Ukraine project addresses the critical need in Ukraine, 
     Belarus, and Russia for safe, uncontaminated food, a potential 
     market with an estimated value of more than  $70 billion over
     30 years in those three nations.  The anticipated business 
     venture is expected to create thousands of jobs in the United 
     States and Newly Independent States over several years.
     
     The U.S. effort to provide nonmilitary work at institutes in the 
     Newly Independent States is part of the overall national nuclear 
     nonproliferation goal of preventing the spread of nuclear 
     materials, technology and expertise.  Besides Ukraine, the United 
     States has cooperative programs under way in Russia, Belarus and 
     Kazakhstan.  Ukraine has renounced nuclear weapons and signed the 
     nuclear nonproliferation treaty. 
     
     - DOE -
     
     R-96-054
     
     
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   *                                                                      * 
   * Stuart M. Altman                    E-Mail: stuart.altman@dp.doe.gov * 
   * U.S. Department of Energy                   Phone: (301) 903-6407    * 
   * Office of Defense Programs (DP-45)    Phone (sec): (301) 903-3487    * 
   * 19901 Germantown Road                         Fax: (301) 903-1562    * 
   * Germantown, Maryland 20874-1290                                      * 
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