organic nuke waste removal-

New material removes radioactive risk

RALEIGH, N.C. (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they can removeradioactive material from drinking water using a combination of forestbyproducts and crustacean shells.

Scientists at North Carolina State University say a material made froma combination of hemicellulose, a byproduct of forest materials, andchitosan, crustacean shells crushed into a powder, can absorb waterand then extract contaminates such as radioactive iodide from thewater.

"As we're currently seeing in Japan, one of the major health risksposed by nuclear accidents is radioactive iodide that dissolves intodrinking water," North Carolina State forest biomaterials ProfessorJoel Pawlak said.

"Because it is chemically identical to non-radioactive iodide, thehuman body cannot distinguish it -- which is what allows it toaccumulate in the thyroid and eventually lead to cancer.

"The material that we've developed binds iodide in water and traps it,which can then be properly disposed of without risk to humans or theenvironment."

The material, in the form of a solid foam, can also remove heavymetals such as arsenic from water or salt from sea water to make cleandrinking water, the researchers said.

"In disaster situations with limited-to-no power source, desalinatingdrinking water is difficult, if not impossible," Pawlak said. "Thisfoam could be brought along in such situations to clean the waterwithout the need for electricity."

 

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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Why would you build a submarine out of concrete?

Why would you build a submarine out of concrete?

      Russian submarine designers are building military submarines out ofconcrete. Because concrete becomes stronger under high pressure,"C-subs" could settle down to the bottom in very deep water and waitfor enemy ships to pass overhead. Concrete would not show up on sonardisplays (it looks just like sand or rocks), so the passing shipswould not see the sub lurking below.

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Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
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"Building elder peer communities that are cozy,caring and comfortable" -
 
Brant Positive Action Group  "a positive community affirmative action group"

promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 

Fwd: [ProActive Rants] wind -positve

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: BrantKnight <siegholle@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 11:29 AM
Subject: [ProActive Rants] wind -positve
To: holcrest@worldchat.com

Manitoba wind farm comes online

ST. JOSEPH, Manitoba (UPI) -- Manitoba's largest energy wind farm has been completed and is in operation to deliver enough energy for 50,000 homes in the province, officials said.

Located in southern Manitoba community of St. Joseph, the facility is capable of generating 138 megawatts of power, a release by Pattern Energy, builder of the project, said Tuesday.

Manitoba Minister of Innovation, Energy and Mines, David Chomiak spoke at the opening ceremony to mark the start of operations.

"This wind farm is one of the largest in the country and will produce enough energy to power 50,000 homes," Chomiak said. "It showcases our province's dedication to creating renewable energy and continuing to build Manitoba Hydro. This project has also provided a solid boost to the local economy creating new opportunities and jobs."

The first group of turbines in the project was set in motion by Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger in January. Now fully operational, the wind farm will contribute to a regional reduction of more than 350,000 tons of greenhouse gases, Pattern said.

Pattern Energy will pay an estimated $38 million to landholders and an additional $44 million in local municipal taxes over the life of the project.

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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Posted By BrantKnight to ProActive Rants at 4/11/2011 07:34:00 AM

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Sunridge Lodge   "Back to Eden"  Quality 24/7 care
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Bio remediation

Scientists eye algae for nuclear cleanup

EVANSTON, Ill. (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say common freshwater algaecan remove radioactive strontium from water and could be used to cleanup nuclear waste.

Scientists at Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratorysay Strontium 90 is one of the more dangerous radioactive fissionmaterials created within a nuclear reactor and is present in the 80million gallons of radioactive waste sludge stored in the UnitedStates, a Northwestern release reported Monday.

Strontium 90 has a half-life of about 30 years and is chemically verysimilar to calcium and thus is drawn to bone, creating a high cancerrisk from exposure when strontium is bound in bones for many years.

The researchers say Closterium moniliferum, one of the bright greenalgae often seen in ponds, can sequester strontium in the form ofbarium-strontium-sulfate crystals.

The knowledge could lead to using algae for direct bioremediation ofwaste or accidental spills in the environment, they say.

"Nuclear waste cleanup is a problem we have to solve," seniorresearcher Derk Joester, who experienced Chernobyl's radioactivefallout when he was a teenager living in southern Germany, said.

"Even if all the nuclear reactors were to shut down tomorrow, theexisting volume of waste is great, and it is costly to store.

"We need to isolate highly radioactive 'high-level' waste from'low-level' waste," he said. "The algae offer a mechanism for doingthis, which we would like to understand and optimize."

 

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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food tech

EU talks on modified foods break down

BRUSSELS (UPI) -- Negotiations in the European Union on "novel foods"broke down on the issue of labeling food products from the offspringof cloned animals, officials said.

Talks on the issue ended Tuesday with EU member states and theEuropean Parliament each blaming the other, EUobserver reported.

Both had agreed on the need to ban all food products from clonedanimals, but failed to reach agreement on the issue of labeling foodproducts from the offspring of cloned animals.

Members of the European Parliament insisted on the need to immediatelycover all products under the additional labeling requirement whilemember states were concerned that onerous new rules would be difficultto enforce.

"Measures regarding clone offspring are absolutely critical becauseclones are commercially viable only for breeding, not directly forfood production," Socialist MEP Gianni Pittella and far-left MEPKartika Liotard said in a joint statement after the talks broke down.

"No farmer would spend 100,000 euros ($141,000) on a cloned bull, onlyto turn it into hamburgers," the two MEPs leading parliament'snegotiating team said.

Meanwhile, the scientist behind the first mammal to be cloned from anadult cell, Dolly the sheep, said cloning for food is hard to justify.

"If you were making cloned animals to make a genetic change to producea protein that could treat human disease, that might be ethicallyacceptable," Ian Wilmut of Edinburgh University said.

"On the other hand, if you were producing more meat, or slightlybetter quality meat, the advantage would not be very great."

 

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations 

Fwd: Fuel cell breakthrough

Researchers claim fuel cell breakthrough

CLEVELAND (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've made a breakthrough in the development of low-cost hydrogen fuel cells that one day could power electric cars.

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland say catalysts made of carbon nanotubes dipped in a polymer solution can outperform traditional platinum catalysts in fuel cells at a fraction of the cost.

The scientists say the new technology can remove one of the biggest roadblocks to widespread cell use: the cost of the catalysts.

Platinum, which represents at least a quarter of the cost of fuel cells, currently sells for about $30,000 per pound, while the activated carbon nanotubes cost about $45 per pound, a Case release said Tuesday.

"This is a breakthrough," Liming Dai, a professor of chemical engineering and the research team leader, said.

Soaking carbon nanotubes in a water solution of the polymer for a couple of hours coats the nanotube surface and pulls an electron partially from the carbon, creating a net positive charge, researchers said.

When placed on the cathode of an alkaline fuel cell, the charged material acts as a catalyst for the oxygen-reduction reaction that produces electricity by electrochemically combining hydrogen and oxygen.

In testing, the researchers' carbon catalyst fuel cell produced as much power as an identical cell using a platinum catalyst.

Dai said he's confident his lab can increase the energy output of the new process.

"We have not optimized the system yet," he said.

One widely researched use for such cells would be to produce electricity to power an electric car, using hydrogen and oxygen from the air. The only emission from such a vehicle, researchers say, would be water.

Copyright 2011 by United Press International

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promoting goodwill and timely cost effective creative solutions to enhance the competitive well being of Brant, Brantford and Six Nations