Japan research team creates radioactive cesium adsorbents from pumice
December 5, 2021
There are moves to put the gathered pumice stones to use.
A research team from the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology and other institutions announced that they had created from pumice stones zeolites, minerals used as adsorbents. Zeolites are used at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant to collect radioactive material. Zeolites have numerous holes of around 0.5 nanometers on the surface and adsorbs materials such as radioactive cesium.
The research team aims to put the zeolites into practical use for that and other purposes.
The Okinawa prefectural government has been scooping up pumice stones using heavy machinery and transporting them to a temporary disposal site, but how to finally dispose of them is becoming an issue.
The research team focused on the fact that pumice stones contain aluminum and other materials that are ingredients to creating zeolites. They added pumice stones arriving on the shores of Yoron Island in Kagoshima Prefecture to alkaline aqueous solutions and heated the solutions at around 100 C, forming zeolites on the surface of the stones.
"Science & Nature" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Ukraine’s Forests Devastated in Hellscape of War
-
Animals Found Living Underground near Deep-sea Hydrothermal Vents
-
Osaka-Kansai Expo: Robot Avatars to be Operated by Online Visitors; Hopes to Show Barrier-free Future in Japan
-
Picky Protection Rules Hamper Swiss Mushrooming Craze
-
Invasive Trout Devouring Native Salmon In Lake Motosu; Anglers Face Environmental Crisis At Foot Of Mt. Fuji
JN ACCESS RANKING
- Streaming Services Boost Anime Popularity Overseas; Former ‘Geeky’ Interest More Beloved Among Gen Z than 3 Major U.S. Sports
- G20 Sees Soft Landing for Global Economy; Leaders Pledge to Resist Protectionism as Trump Calls for Imported Goods Flat Tariff
- Chinese Rights Lawyer’s Wife Seeks Support in Japan; Sophie Luo Calls for Beijing to Free Ding Jiaxi, Xu Zhiyong
- Malaysia Growing in Popularity as Destination for Studying Abroad; British-style Education Available at Low Cost
- ‘Women Over 30 Would Have Uteruses Removed’; Remarks of CPJ Leader, Novelist Naoki Hyakuta Get Wide Attention