A year of the SURRI team: expert workshops and research in the field

The SURRI project brings together leading experts and promotes research into the remediation and use of radionuclides. The team is exploring new ways to clean up soil or water in post-mining areas in a sustainable way. In particular, the team is looking at electrochemical and biological methods to recover metals such as copper, cobalt or zinc from mining waste. These raw materials are scarce and the researchers are looking at their possible reuse. "It is possible to produce these metals from wastewater in the form of nanoparticles, which are significantly more valuable than in conventional sizes," says Miroslav Černík, head of research at SURRI and director of CXI TUL.

Let's take a look at how the first year of this project collaboration between scientists from three European universities has been.

The research team met in person for the first time in January at the initial kick-off meeting in Liberec. During the year, visits, workshops and pilot sampling followed at DIAMO sites in the Czech Republic - in Kaňko, Zlaté Hory and Ralsko.

The SURRI project is educational in nature, with an emphasis on international cooperation and expert sharing of knowledge and research methods. This is why the team members met for joint workshops and visits: at the University of Liberec, the University of Granada and the University of Southampton.

The first summer school is planned for this year: it will take place at the University of Granada. The next one will be an expert visit to the University of Sapienza in Rome.

The project's research activities are now focused on intensive analyses of samples collected from DIAMO sites. Another task for the research team is the development of methodologies for the remediation and use of radionuclides.

The results will be published in scientific journals and the current findings will be presented.

The SURRI team not only wants to increase scientific knowledge about radioactive waste and use the latest methods to recover valuable elements from sites affected by past mining. Another goal is to actively cooperate with local businesses in the Liberec region and contribute to environmental sustainability and safety.

About the SURRI project

Radioactive waste, sustainable remediation and electrochemical methods are the key topics chosen for collaborative research by the team of scientists for their SURRI research project. The European project, entitled "Sustainable Remediation of Radionuclide Impacts on Land and Critical Materials Recovery", is led by Prof. Miroslav Černík from CXI at the Technical University of Liberec, with Mohamed Larbi Merroun from the University of Granada, Spain, Andrew Cundy from the University of Southhampton, UK and Marco Petrangeli Papini from Sapienza University of Rome as partners. The SURRI project was officially launched in January 2023 and will run for the next three years. The project team will investigate new possibilities for soil or water remediation based on electrochemical and biological methods. Environmentally friendly procedures will be followed as much as possible to recover these precious metals.

More information here: https://surri.eu/