Nuclear Disaster Site is Being Decontaminated – Using Natural Resources!

A Ukrainian state-owned enterprise in charge of monitoring radiation in Chernobyl partnered with a Swiss company specialized in sustainable development with a major mission in mind: decontaminating plots of land in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. 

Following the partnership with SSE Ecocentre, the Swiss company Exlterra created the revolutionary Nucleus Separation Passive System (NSPS) as a way to decontaminate the land using natural and renewable means. Twelve months after the commencement of the program, the NSPS has recorded that soil radiation has reduced at an average of 46.6% and air radiation has reduced at an average of 37% on the 1-hectare plot that was tested. 

“It is the first time in 35 years that such technology has succeeded in reducing the level of radioactivity in the soil and air so significantly. This is a real hope for the whole area,” says Sergiy Kireiev, the General Director of SSE Ecocentre in Chernobyl. 

The unique system, known as a de-reactor, works naturally and safely to neutralize radioactivity without allowing it to seep further into the ground or to be released into the air. Ultimately, the technology allows the affected particles to return to their original, pre-radioactive state. “That’s what makes this invention unique — it uses natural energies to solve an industrial pollution without resorting to chemical substitutes or soil manipulations,” explains Andrew Niemczyk, president and CTO of Exlterra.