Environmental Uses
Studying the Environment
You might already know that nuclear energy is the number-one source of electricity that can be generated without also producing air pollution. What you probably don't know is that nuclear energy can also be used to study our environment in order to keep it safe from a variety of pollutants.
In the field of environmental science, radioisotopes assist scientists in exploring the world around us. Radioactive tracers follow materials as they travel through the atmosphere, the waterways, and the food chain, and provide scientists with vital information about the delicate balances in nature.
For instance, phosphorus is a plant nutrient found in streams. The addition of a radioisotope of phosphorus into a stream permits scientists to observe how streams react to stressful changes resulting from high rainfall, heavy leaf fall, and pollutants. Such studies are referred to as “phosphorus spiraling.”
The radioisotope sulfur-35 permits scientists to study the effects of coal mining on plant life. By injecting sulfur-35 into trees, for instance, scientists are able to determine how trees handle extra sulfur. They have found that some trees send the extra sulfur that results from mining to their roots, and others seem to throw off the extra sulfur into the atmosphere.
Scientists at the National Institute of Science and Technology are using radiocarbon dating to determine the origin of some organic atmospheric contaminants, such as methane. This type of study enables scientists to determine whether a contaminant comes from a living carbon source or a fossil fuel such as gasoline. Such research will be increasingly important in the growing study of global climate change.
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