National Aldurian Broadcasting Corporation

[Alduria]

 

MILLIONS OF SUNFLOWERS SOAK UP ALDURIA’S RADIATION

 

Punta Santiago, Alduria (NABC News) – The Department of Interior has announced the completion of the first wave of Project Sun, a nationwide effort to clean up radioactive areas in Alduria.

 

Millions of sunflowers were planted in nearly all of the majorly radioactive areas identified by the Department of Interior for clean-up to soak up toxins from the ground.

 

The plants are known to soak up toxins from the soil, with patches of sunflowers now growing between buildings, in backyards, alongside roads and railways, and anywhere else they will possibly fit.

 

At least 12 million sunflowers and 1 million other plants were distributed by the Department of Interior, in coordination with the Aldurian Civil Defense Corps and local non-profit organizations.

 

“We have planted sunflowers, field mustard, amaranthus, cannabis, and cockscomb, which are all believed to absorb radiation,” Francis Gertrude, Interior Department spokesperson says.

 

“[Sunflowers] are able to take heavy metals from contaminated soil in a way that’s completely natural and un-harmful to the soil and its surrounding ecosystems,” Gertrude said. “They’re called ‘phytoremediators.’”

 

Other plants can be phytoremediators as well, but sunflowers are particularly effective because they are so large, he said.

 

Over the course of the next year, another 12 million sunflowers will be planted across the country, testing between 250 and 280 genotypes. That will map out 85 to 90 percent of the genome, an important step in finding the best sunflower breed to use in environmental cleanup.

 

In particular, the Department of Interior is testing sunflower absorption of zinc and eventually copper, common elements found in fertilizers, pollution and runoff that are easy to measure over a large data set.

 

“Sunflowers have the added benefit that they are also used very heavily in agribusiness for things like sunflower oil, sunflower seeds and skin care products,” Gertrude said. “So we want to know which type easily absorbs the toxins, but we’re also looking for a genotype that’s going to be able to resist the heavy metals in the soil and is going to be able to survive in an environment with possible heavy salt deposits. That’s going to be a lot healthier of a plant to sell.”

 

The planting effort is accompanied by the development of new technologies, including chemical and biological processes, to separate out the radioactive material and reduce the amounts that needed special disposal. While many of these techniques work well, many Aldurians remain uncomfortable with the idea of living or working near decontaminated fill.