SRNL Teaming with Japanese Researchers on Fukushima Project

Researchers at the Savannah River National Laboratory have undertaken a joint project with scientists in Japan to help find ways to remediate environmental areas contaminated by the Fukushima disaster, the Laboratory announced late last week. The three-year joint project will focus primarily on the movement of plutonium and radioiodine, as well as learning more about how radionuclides migrate through the environment. “The Fukushima area provides a rare real-life glimpse of how radionuclides move through the environment,” SRNL Senior Fellow Daniel Kaplan said in a statement. “We intend to learn as much as possible from this tragic accident so that the U.S. and the international community are better prepared to deal with such accidents. This research will help predict the risk associated with accidental radionuclide releases and will provide direction for long-term remediation or stewardship of contaminated environments.” The U.S. team is led by Kaplan and Peter Santschi from Texas A&M University and is funded through the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, SRNL said.