DATE=4/25/96 TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT NUMBER=5-33109 TITLE=CLEANING CHERNOBYL WITH PLANTS BYLINE=DAVID MCALARY DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: TEN YEARS AFTER THE NUCLEAR EXPLOSION AT CHERNOBYL, THREE MILLION HECTARES OF LAND SURROUNDING THE REACTOR IN UKRAINE AND BELARUS REMAIN CONTAMINATED WITH RADIOACTIVE METALS, POSING A CONTINUING THREAT TO THE MILLIONS OF RESIDENTS IN THE AREA. THE SOIL IS PERMEATED WITH THE DEADLY METALS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY -- MAINLY URANIUM, CESIUM, AND STRONTIUM. CAN ANYTHING GROW SAFELY THERE? THE ANSWER IS YES. SCIENTISTS ARE PERFECTING METHODS THAT USE PLANTS TO ABSORB THE HEAVY METALS THROUGH THEIR ROOTS, WITH THE EVENTUAL PROMISE OF RENEWING THE CONTAMINATED LAND PARTLY THROUGH AGRICULTURE. V-O-A'S SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT DAVID MCALARY REPORTS, CHERNOBYL HAS BEEN ONE OF THE PROVING GROUNDS FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY. TEXT: SCIENTISTS CALL IT PHYTOREMEDIATION, BUT TO YOU AND ME, IT SIMPLY MEANS EMPLOYING PLANTS TO SUCK UP TOXIC ORGANIC OR INORGANIC MATERIAL AND RENDER IT HARMLESS. LISTEN TO THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE TERM -- RUSSIAN-BORN PLANT BIOCHEMIST ILYA RASKIN OF RUTGERS UNIVERSITY IN NEW JERSEY. // RASKIN ACT // PLANTS GROW BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE INNATE ABILITY TO ACCUMULATE ELEMENTS FROM THE ENVIRONMENT AND CONCENTRATE THEM. FORTUITOUSLY FOR US, SOME OF THE PLANTS ALSO HAVE AN INNATE ABILITY TO ACCUMULATE OR TO DEGRADE GRADE CERTAIN ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS. THE TECHNOLOGY OF PHYTOREMEDIATION IS BASICALLY TO OPTIMIZATION AND HARNESSING THIS INNATE ABILITY OF PLANTS. // END ACT // AS THE RESULT OF RESEARCH BY MR. RASKIN AND OTHER SCIENTISTS, A FEW EMERGING BIOTECHNOLOGY FIRMS ARE EXPERIMENTING WITH A VARIETY OF PLANTS TO TEST THEIR ABILITY TO ELIMINATE HEAVY METALS FROM THE SOIL. AND WHAT BETTER PLACE THAN CHERNOBYL TO DO THIS? A NEW JERSEY COMPANY THAT ORIGINATED WITH MR. RASKIN'S WORK -- PHYTOTECH -- USED A FIELD OF LOFTY SUNFLOWERS GROWN IN A POND NEAR THE REACTOR TO SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THE CONCENTRATION OF THE TWO MAIN RADIOACTIVE METALS IN THE WATER, CESIUM AND STRONTIUM. AT A RECENT DISCUSSION SPONSORED BY THE COMPANY AND RUTGERS, PHYTOTECH SCIENTIST SLAVIK DUSHENKOV LAUDED THE RESULTS. // DUSHENKOV ACT // IN COLLABORATION WITH UKRAINIAN SCIENTISTS, WE WERE ABLE TO SHOW THAT SUNFLOWERS COULD EFFECTIVELY REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF CESIUM IN POLLUTED WATER, BRINGING IT DOWN BY 90 TO 95 PER CENT. THE SAME FOR STRONTIUM. // OPT // SUNFLOWERS WERE ABLE TO ACCUMULATE EIGHT-THOUSAND TIMES MORE STRONTIUM AND CESIUM IN THEIR ROOTS THAN IN THE WATER ITSELF. // END OPT // // END ACT // PHYTOTECH AND OTHER COMPANIES HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH OTHER CROPS SUCH AS CORN, GRASSES, AND THE MUSTARD PLANT TO ABSORB LEAD FROM THE GROUND. THE RESULTS HINT THAT CROPS MAY BE ABLE TO TAKE UP NEARLY THREE TONS OF THAT METAL PER HECTARE ANNUALLY PHYTOTECH PRESIDENT BURT ENSLEY ESTIMATES THAT CLEANUP WITH PLANTS -- WHEN PERFECTED -- WOULD COST BETWEEN ONE-TENTH TO ONE-FOURTH AS MUCH AS CONVENTIONAL METHODS, SUCH AS HAULING POLLUTED SOIL AWAY. IT IS LESS COSTLY, HE SAYS, EVEN IF THE PLANTS THEMSELVES HAVE TO BE REMOVED AND BURNED. OTHER RECENT RESEARCH INDICATES THAT THIS MEASURE MIGHT NOT BE NECESSARY. UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA SCIENTISTS HAVE SHOWN THAT A GENE FROM METAL-EATING BACTERIA -- WHEN INSERTED INTO THE MUSTARD PLANT -- CAUSES THE PLANT TO TRANSFORM TOXIC MERCURY TO A MORE BENIGN FORM BEFORE IT EXPELS IT INTO THE ATMOSPHERE. MR. ENSLEY SAYS THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY CAN MAKE MAKE IT EASIER TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM OF CONTAMINATED SOIL, WIDESPREAD IN ALL INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES. // ENSLEY ACT // THE REASON THAT CHERNOBYL IS STILL CONTAMINATED AFTER 10 YEARS IS BECAUSE IT COSTS TOO MUCH MONEY. THAT'S THE REAL PROBLEM. AMERICA CAN'T AFFORD TO CLEAN THIS COUNTRY BACK UP TO THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE. BY SAVING MONEY, PHYTOREMEDIATION WILL INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SITES THAT ARE CLEANED UP, WE HOPE, AND IT WILL INCREASE THE PACE OF REMEDIATION ACTIVITIES. // END ACT // THE TECHNOLOGY IS NOT A PANACEA. PLANTS MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ABSORB POISONS DEEPER THAN THEIR ROOTS, AND TECHNIQUES TO EXTRACT THOSE WITHIN THE ROOT ZONE MUST STILL BE PERFECTED. FOR EXAMPLE, SCIENTISTS ARE PUTTING CHEMICALS IN SOIL THAT WILL CAUSE ROOTS TO TAKE IN CONTAMINATION FASTER THAN NORMAL. IF PHYTOREMEDIATION BECOMES PRACTICAL ON A LARGE SCALE, THEN THE DIRECTOR OF THE RUTGERS ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY CENTER -- ROBERT TUCKER -- SAYS IT WILL HELP US USE THE BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY TO FIGHT THE ILLS OF TECHNOLOGY. // TUCKER ACT // ONE OF THE LEGACIES OF CHERNOBYL CERTAINLY IS TO VASTLY INCREASE THE SUSPICION ABOUT HIGH TECHNOLOGY. BUT TO ME THE LESSONS OF THIS ARE NOT TO ABANDON TECHNOLOGY. // END ACT // THAT WAS ROBERT TUCKER, DIRECTOR OF THE RUTGERS ENVIROMENTAL POLICY CENTER.(SIGNED) NEB/DEM/PT 25-Apr-96 10:07 PM EDT (0207 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .