Phytoextraction of 137Cs: The Effect of Soil 137Cs Concentration on 137Cs Uptake by Beta vulgaris

Developing field-scale, gentle remediation options for nuclear sites contaminated with 137Cs and 90Sr: The role of Nature-Based Solutions

The remediation of contaminated land using plants, bacteria and fungi has been widely examined, especially in laboratory or greenhouse systems where conditions are precisely controlled. However, in real systems at the field scale conditions are much more variable and often produce different outcomes, which must be fully examined if 'gentle remediation options', or GROs, are to be more widely implemented, and their associated benefits (beyond risk-management) realized. These secondary benefits can be significant if GROs are applied correctly, and can include significant biodiversity enhancements. Here, we assess recent developments in the field-scale application of GROs for the remediation of two model contaminants for nuclear site remediation (⁹⁰Sr and ¹³⁷Cs), their risk management efficiency, directions for future application and research, and barriers to their further implementation at scale. We also discuss how wider benefits, such as biodiversity enhancements, water filtration etc. can be maximized at the field-scale by intelligent application of these approaches.

Potential of monitoring nuclides with the epiphyte Tillandsia usneoides: Uptake and localization of 133Cs

Epiphytic Tillandsia plants are efficient air pollution biomonitors and traditionally used to monitor atmospheric heavy metal pollution, but rarely nuclides monitoring. Here we evaluated the potential of Tillandsia usneoides for monitoring (133)Cs and investigated if Cs was trapped by the plant external surface structures. The results showed that T. usneoides was able to survive relatively high Cs stress. With the increase of Cs solution concentration, the total of Cs in plants increased significantly, which suggests that the plants could accumulate Cs quickly and effectively. Therefore, T. usneoides has considerable potential for monitoring Cs polluted environments. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis showed that Cs was detected in each type of cells in foliar trichomes, and the ratio of Cs in the internal disc cell was higher than that in ring cell and wing cell, which indicates that the mechanism of adsorption Cs in Tillandsia has an active component.

The uptake of Cs and Sr from soil to radish (Raphanus sativus L.)- potential for phytoextraction and remediation of contaminated soils

The (133)Cs and (88)Sr uptake by plant Raphanus sativus L. was studied during cultivation in outdoor potted-soil. The distribution, accumulation of (133)Cs, (88)Sr and the antioxidant responses in plants were measured after 30 and 60 days of cultivation. The results showed that the uptake capacity of radish for (88)Sr was far higher than that for (133)Cs when the concentration of (88)Sr was as the same as that of (133)Cs in the soil (The concentration of (88)Sr or (133)Cs in the soil was from 2.5 mg kg(-1) to 40 mg kg(-1)). The highest (88)Sr accumulation was 239.18 μg g(-1) dw, otherwise, the highest (133)Cs accumulation was 151.74 μg g(-1) dw (The concentration of (88)Sr in the soil was 40 mg kg(-1)), and the lowest (88)Sr accumulation was 131.03 μg g(-1) dw, otherwise, the lowest (133)Cs accumulation was 12.85 μg g(-1) dw (The concentration of (88)Sr in the soil is 5 mg kg(-1)). The (88)Sr and (133)Cs TF values were 1.16-1.72 and 0.24-0.60, respectively. There was little influence of high concentration of (88)Sr on the total biomass of plants, so the radish is one of the ideal phytoremediation plant for Sr polluted soils. The important physiological reasons that radish had good tolerance to (88)Sr stress were that the MDA content was higher under the (88)Sr stress than that under the (133)Cs stress, and the activities of POD and CAT were lower under the (88)Sr stress than that under (133)Cs stress.

Potential of Chromolaena odorata for phytoremediation of (137)Cs from solution and low level nuclear waste

Potential of Chromolaena odorata plants for remediation of (137)Cs from solutions and low level nuclear waste was evaluated. When plants were exposed to solutions spiked with three different levels of (137)Cs, namely 1 x 10(3) kBqL(-1), 5 x 10(3) kBqL(-1) and 10 x 10(3) kBqL(-1), 89%, 81% and 51% of (137)Cs was found to be remediated in 15 d, respectively. At the lowest Cs activity (1 x 10(3) kBqL(-1)), accumulation of Cs was found to be higher in roots compared to shoots, while at higher Cs activities (5 x 10(3) kBqL(-1) and 10 x 10(3) kBqL(-1)), Cs accumulation was more in shoots than roots. When plants were incubated in low level nuclear waste, 79% of the activity was removed by plants at the end of 15 d. The present study suggests that C. odorata could be used as a potential candidate plant for phytoremediation of (137)Cs.

Biosorption of cesium-137 and strontium-90 by mucilaginous seeds of Ocimum basilicum

Mucilaginous seeds of Ocimum basilicum were used in uptake studies with cesium-137 and strontium-90. Results showed that uptake was dependent on the structural integrity of the mucilage fibrils. Water imbibed seeds showed higher adsorption of both 137Cs and 90Sr in comparison to seeds pretreated with NaOH, HCl and Na-periodate solution. The uptake was pH dependent and while some divalent metal ions had no or little detrimental effect, the alkali metal ions Li+, Na+ and K+ decreased the uptake. The maximum adsorption capacity was 160 mg cesium g(-1) and 247 mg strontium g(-1) seed dry weight.

Laboratory analyses of 137Cs uptake by sunflower, reed and poplar

The 137Cs uptake by three plant species (Phragmites australis L., Heliantus annus L., Populus simonii L.) was analyzed in a hydroponic medium (14 MBql(-1); 0.5 mM CsCl) during cultivation. The radioactivity disappearance from the medium was measured after 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 days of cultivation. Radioactivity distribution within the plant was determined by autoradiography. We did not find differences between uptake of radioactive and stable caesium isotopes. Relations between the uptake of 137Cs and concentration of potassium and ammonium ions in medium were also tested. The highest uptake of radiocaesium by sunflower was obtained for medium with 1 mM K2SO4 (14.2%) and in case of ammonium ions for concentration ratio 6 mM NH4Cl : 3 mM NH4NO3 (13.2%). The obtained results make it possible to compare the capability and rate of 137Cs phytoremediation of different plant species.