Selentec's MAG SEP will make Ukrainian milk safe
| The August 1995 Initiatives featured an
interview with Michael Dunn, president of Selentec.
Selentec, a small business in Atlanta, holds a patent for
MAG SEP, a separation technology using magnetic particles
to selectively adsorb contaminants. At the time, Selentec
and the Office of Science and Technology were
collaborating to demonstrate MAG SEP. In July 1996,
Initiatives again talked with Dunn and found that MAG SEP
will work in Ukraine to decontaminate some food products.
On April 16, 1986, Chernobyl, a city in northcentral Ukraine, was the site of the world's worst nuclear power plant disaster. An explosion released radioactivity that has contaminated more than 38,000 square miles and poisoned land, air, water, and people. MAG SEP will tackle one part of the contaminated area's food chain by decontaminating some food products. |
Selentec received a $1 million contract to remove cesium and strontium from food products in contaminated zones of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. The U.S. Department of Energy is funding the project collaboration between Selentec, Argonne National Laboratory, Ukraine Institute of Nuclear Research, Ukraine Institute of Superhard Materials, and the Ukraine Academy of Sciences to make food, specifically milk, safe from radioactive contaminants.
Selentec will use the MAG SEP particles to magnetically filter cesium-137 and strontium-90 from milk contaminated by the Chernobyl fallout. The particles have a magnetic core made of iron, a polymer-based protective covering, and an adsorbent outer covering. Tests at Argonne National Laboratory have demonstrated that the process can remove 95 percent of the cesium and strontium from milk, according to DOE. Previous tests also show that naturally occurring elements are not affected by the filtering process.
After the project is complete, Selentec will go on to remove radioactive particles from drinking water, juice, and baby food in the same contaminated zones. The project will not only improve safety and health, but also provide the tools to better the country's economic situation. Currently, food production is low and drinking water is imported into the contaminated areas. Decontamination is the first step to residents using the area's resources rather than importing essential products from other countries. It will begin to open doors for exporting agricultural products outside the country to increase revenue and wealth in the region. Now, it is illegal to export contaminated goods even if the radiation levels are below the maximum permissible amount.
Since being featured in Initiatives in August 1995, Selentec has vigorously worked on particle development. Making a strong and durable particle while experimenting with different material coverings to achieve maximum adsorption has been a priority in Selentec's research, according to the company's president, Michael Dunn. Tests are expected to be completed in January to determine which adsorbent covering will be used in the Ukraine project. Most of the materials being tested are clay-like and occur naturally, according to Argonne National Laboratory.
DOE expects the Ukraine project to create thousands of jobs in the United States and the Newly Independent States over the next two years, building hardware for the project and performing the decontamination. The process is expected to continue to employ many people when the concept extends out of the developmental stage and reaches commercialization. The pilot-scale implementation may be just the beginning of a long-term cleanup of Chernobyl's remnants, since cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years.
Selentec is also working with Russian scientists and the U. S. Geological Survey to determine optimum environmental sampling methods of the Ob River, using MAG SEP particles.
