Phytoremediation of ¹³⁷Cs from low level nuclear waste using <i>Catharanthus roseus</i>

Abstract

Remediation of radionuclides has been carried out using the phytoremediation technology. The green plants have been screened for the uptake potential of radionuclide and found that <i style="">Catharanthus roseus</i> has the high potential for radionuclides in particular ¹³⁷Cs. Low level nuclear waste (LLNW) collected from effluent treatment plant, BARC has been characterized for physico-chemical and the presence of traces of radionuclides. LLNW was spiked with 3.7×10⁴kBqL^-¹ activity level of ¹³⁷Cs. The plants of <i style="">C. roseus</i> were grown in (i) LLNW, (ii) ¹³⁷Cs spiked LLNW and (iii) with the control. The radio activities were measured in the solution at the intervals of 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 15 days in triplicate set of the experiment. The plants were harvested after the growth. The depletion of ¹³⁷Cs in LLNW was found to be 19, 21, 24, 38, 60 and 76% at intervals of 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 15 days, respectively. The bio-accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs has been measured in the roots and shoots of the harvested plants. The activity of ¹³⁷Cs was found higher in shoots (998 kBq g^-1 dw) as compared to the roots (735 kBq&nbsp;g^-1 dw). The uptake of radionuclide-¹³⁷Cs, bio-accumulation in the shoot via the active transport from the root, shows the high efficiency and potentiality of <i style="">C. roseus</i> for the remediation of radionuclide. The bio-accumulation of ¹³⁷Cs in the shoot will remediate the radionuclide contamination from LLNW. <i style="">C. roseus</i> can also be made applicable for effective remediation of radionuclides present in the LLNW.