Identification and validation of heavy metal and radionuclide hyperaccumulating terrestrial plant species. Quarterly technical progress report, March 20, 1997--June 19, 1997

This laboratory has been involved in a collaborative project focusing on a range of issues related to the phytoremediation of heavy metal-and radionuclide- contaminated soils. While much of the research has been fundamental in nature, involving physiological and molecular characterizations of the mechanisms of hyperaccumulation in plants, the laboratory is also investigating more practical issues related to phytoremediation. A central issue in this latter research has been the identification of amendments capable of increasing the bioavailability and subsequent phytoextraction of radionuclides. The results described here detail these efforts for uranium and Cs-137. A study was also conducted on a Cs-137 contaminated site at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which allowed application of the laboratory and greenhouse results to a field setting