How Radioactive Waste In Sunflowers Can Be Disposed Of?

In 2013, after a tsunami hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, fields of sunflowers were planted to clean up radioactive metals. This was a significant move after the Hiroshima, Fukushima, and Chernobyl nuclear disasters. Nuclear waste is a harsh contaminant, and sunflowers can pull radioactive contaminants out of the soil. Researchers are now testing the use of sunflowers to clean up the Fukushima site in Japan. Sunflowers were used after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster to remove cesium and strontium from the soil and ponds.

After the Fukushima disaster, sunflowers were used to remove toxic radioactive elements from the soil and water. After the flowers have finished their job, they can be properly harvested and disposed of as nuclear waste. In 1994, a multinational effort found that sunflowers can extract heavy metals from contaminated soil in a natural and un-harmful way.

The Heliocage project turns a Radioactive Waste Depot into a building that covers nearby grass with sunflowers, and reaching a threshold of sunflowers is a requirement. After their work, the sunflowers are disposed of as radioactive waste. The estimated cost for the project is $2 to $6 per thousand gallons of waste.