Cecilia de Menezes, a 32-year-old researcher in Rio de Janeiro, was selected to present her unpublished research on the safe storage of radioactive waste at a convention held in the United States in early March. His work is competing for the WM Symposium Best Project Award, which begins next month in Phoenix, Arizona. But without enough money to pay for the plane ticket and free help from the development agencies, she and three colleagues also selected decided to draw a new iPhone 7 to pay for the trip.
The phone lottery will take place next Saturday (16) and each draw number costs R $ 25. In G1 Niterói (RJ) researcher explained that she had already sold about 300 numbers, but the original idea of selling 700 quotas to fund her trip and three other Brazilian researchers has already been partially abandoned.
"We are four Brazilians trying to leave, two of them have already given up because of the high ticket prices," said Cecilia de Menezes, who has only 20 days to get them funds and guarantee the pbadage. The two who gave up are Ana Paula Tessaro and Natalie Rolindo. They have already attended the university event in 2018 and have abandoned their share of the draw to increase the chances of Cecilia and Naomi Watanabe, fourth researcher of the group, to earn about $ 6,000 each needed for the trip. , and can exhibit their work at this international event.
To announce the draw, they have created a virtual booklet with WhatsApp numbers in which they arrange payment in cash, by bank transfer or through the application Picpay, on behalf of a ceciliamadeira. "At 25 dollars, you buy a draw, you fight an iPhone 7 and you help to recognize the Brazilian science," they wrote (see below) .
<img clbad = "image content-media__image" itemprop = "contentUrl" alt = "No Brazilian researchers decide to draw an iPhone to collect funds – Photo:" Title-no "of Divulgação to present his research at an international congress, Brazilian researchers decide to shoot lots of money for an iPhone – »"
Without funding to present their research at an international congress, Brazilian researchers decide to draw an iPhone to collect funds – Photo: Divulgação
Research to save lives
In addition to guaranteeing a place among the best works entered in the WM Symposiums, the relevance of Cecilia's research project for the master's degree has opened. the opportunity, still under study, to go directly to the doctor of the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (Ipen), in São Paulo.
With two degrees – in international relations from the Rio de Janeiro University Research Institute (Iuperj) and environmental management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) – the researcher decided to bring together both areas to study and propose ways to, in the long term, ensure the safe storage of radioactive waste not only in Brazil, but throughout Latin America.
Without being able to go into the details of her research, which is not published until next month, she explains that the radioactive residues are not very different from those of the Mariana and Brumadinho mineral residue dams. But if the break-up of these two dams has already caused environmental and social damage to an irreversible degree, an accident involving radioactive material can cause even greater damage.
"Imagine if this mineral waste was all radioactive waste, it would be catastrophic for the whole country," she says, adding that today, the Latin American continent does not have Safe space for depositing these materials. 1987, the tragedy with cesium 137 killed four people and contaminated another 249; In 1987, the tragedy with Césesio killed four people and contaminated 249 others: 137 people. In 1987, a tragedy with Cesés 137 killed four people and contaminated another 249. to date, Brazil has no permanent secure deposit, to store these and other radioactive waste – Photo: Reproduction / TV Globo "src =" data: image / jpeg; base64, / 9j / 4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD / 2wBDAAMCAgMCAgMDAwMEAwMEBQgFBQQEBQoHBwYIDAoMDAsKCwsNDhIQDQ4RDgsLEBYQERMUFRUVDA8XGBYUGBIUFRT / 2wBDAQMEBAUEBQkFBQkUDQsNFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBQUFBT / wgARCAAOABkDASIAAhEBAxEB / 8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABwgG / 8QAFwEAAwEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDBP / // aAAwDAQACEAMQAAABzqIMu2I4CZaHna6 8QAHBAAAQUBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAABAABAwUGFAcV / 9oACAEBAAEFAvMungvBzmnufoQ5dYQ EBSmQu2pvBy6pf + / EABkRAQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAEQISIf / aAAgBAwEBPwHUzKZQcJ xAAZEQADAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhEBAyH // / // 2gAIAQIBAT8Be4amuzp 8QAJRAAAgEEAQEJAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIDAAQREhAyBRMUISNBYXGB / 9oACAEBAAY / Ar3wcqrLuPTCZP78UBFeZlwG1fAYGu0zeXwuA0YQx5zqcrwW0fvy3WrU0jISW8yferyBLcqdes / Y4 // EAB0QAAIDAQADAQAAAAAAAAAAAAERACExURBBkbH / 2gAIAQEAAT8hzElsVbz60IsKKZlVcZ / YJEYjTqO9HgXZ4UARwj7KgdMBuXEYoDw27BHP / 9oADAMBAAIAAwAAABAMv // EABkRAQACAwAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAEAsUFRYf / aAAgBAwEBPxAqRRzDTTq3P EABkRAAMAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABETGRwf // / // aAAgBAgEBPxC2j6WvPR xAAYEAEB AQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABESEAcf / aAAgBAQABPxBtBuAhe6qgpURPOkzCYskSwuI5AbOIBHaGV9I01Hr5xwLEJZGYm0IjTOW6RgftJrLnTF0A6hcld23XvHf / 2Q == "/> <img clbad =" content-media__image picture "itemprop =" contentURL "alt =" In 1987, tragedy with Cesium 137 killed four people and infected 249 others; In 1987, the tragedy with Césesio killed four people and contaminated 249 others: 137 people. In 1987, a tragedy with Cesés 137 killed four people and contaminated another 249. To date, Brazil does not have a definitive and secure deposit for storing this radioactive waste. Photo: Reproduction / Television Globo "data-src =" https://s2.glbimg.com/lPDFvDugPEUQgVB9GTgwY0QBd5Y=/0x0:1280×720/984×0/s In 1987, the tragedy with Cesareo 137 killed four people and contaminated another 249 [1] [2] [3]. Brazil does not have a safe and final deposit to store this waste and other radioactive waste Photo: Reproduction / TV Globo
Radioactive waste in Brazil
In 1987, Brazil was the victim of such a disaster In Goiânia after Two collectors of recyclable waste found a radiotherapy device improperly discarded by a radiology clinic, dismantled the equipment and sold to an old iron.The contact of the local population with cesium 137 that was found there left four dead and 249 contaminated.
To date, more than 31 years later, the government In addition, the local hospital paid a special pension to the victims of the accident which, in the radioactive field, was the second worst in history of the world, just after Chernobyl in Ukraine.
Today, Cecilia explains that the radioactive material collected after this tragedy is stored in Abadia de Goiás
In addition, various types of radioactive waste are produced daily by various sectors of society, such as hospitals. , during cancer treatment. and the application of exams, and in the food industry, in the process of packaging drinks in aluminum cans. In the past, the researcher said the material was also present in the ultraviolet rays installed above the buildings in Brazil. Cecilia explains that hospitals and clinics are responsible for storing her residues, but most of the rest of the material is sent to Ipen, where she does her research.
Every day, Ipen sees increasing accumulation of this contaminating material, but up to now, there is no safe place where it can stay without becoming a hazard in decades or years. centuries to come.
"My study deals with a final deposit of radioactive residues, so that they are in perfect condition, without harming the current or future population." Today, we do not have one. appropriate location for many types of radioactive waste to be neglected. "
He indicated that security control of this deposit should be carried out at the institutional level. "I study long-term institutional stability because we do not have the guarantee that no Brazilian institution will be able to remain stable for centuries, let's see our political and economic turmoil." And any instability of the institution responsible for such security would endanger society.
<img clbad = "image content-media__image" itemprop = "contentUrl" alt = "researcher Cecilia men ezes, 32, has joined his ranks in international relations and management of the world. environment in a research project to ensure that radioactive waste will be stored safely in Latin America Photo: Personal Archive / Cecilia de Menezes "title =" Researcher Cecilia de Menezes, 32, has joined the ranks of international relations and environmental management as part of a research project to ensure the safe storage of radioactive waste in Latin America – Photo: Archive s personal / Cecilia de Menezes "data-src =" https: //. The 32-year-old researcher Cecilia de Menezes has combined her degrees in international relations and environmental management with a research project to ensure that radioactive waste is safely stored on the premises of the company. 39; company. When they discovered that their work had been selected for the event in the United States, Cecilia and the three Ipen colleagues went on to complete the viability of the trip. The US dollar being very high and the dates of the event coinciding with those of Carnival in Brazil, the researcher added that adding airline tickets to Phoenix and the value that they must carry in dollars to allow the publication of the entry to the United States must be respected. to pay about R $ 6,000. "A master's student in Ipen receives a $ 1,500 scholarship, but I do not get any research fellowships," said the doctoral candidate.
After an unsuccessful attempt to solicit the help of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and following the requests denied by the low-cost airlines in transit, Naomi, who had bought a new iPhone and unused, had the idea to draw him to raise funds, and the others had the task of publicizing the campaign.
Until this Saturday (9), 20 days after the trip, Cecilia said the raffle sales were enough to cover the cost of the phone and that about R $ 5,000 of the 24,000 R $ required for the participation of the four Brazilians. Ana Paula and Natalie then gave up the idea of going to Arizona so that others would have more chances to get funding.
"I never imagined having to ask for money on the Internet to be able to represent Brazil in such a congress," she lamented to G1 . "Brazil's culture is not to value science and research, but it's where the best solutions for everyday life are, sometimes solutions that save lives."
"It's a major congress, as if it's a showcase for the world, so we can show what Brazil has seen and studied in nuclear technology. Everyone looks at it, we do not can not stay back, "Cecilia said. "My goal is to showcase my work and get funding, fans, scientists from all over the world will show interest, but for that I have to be there."
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