Every quarter, I get sent a copy of Nuclear Connect, a kind of trade journal for the nuclear industry. There was one particular news story that interested me that I thought I'd pass on. It concerns a recent announcement at an American Chemical Society, reported by them in a news story here.
The short story is that there is supposed to be at least 4 billion tons of uranium dissolved in seawater. That's a staggering amount, but of course there is a lot of seawater out there, and even a low concentration of uranium could still amount to an overall huge weight. Wikipedia seems to think there is about 109 billion tons of water on the Earth.
Apparently a technique, developed in Japan, has cut the cost of extracting uranium from the sea to around $300 per pound of uranium. That would be at the natural isotopic abundance, presumably, so would need to be enriched for fuel. But still, to know that there is a huge reserve of uranium that can be extracted is useful. It can always form a backup in case we don't come up with something better.
The short story is that there is supposed to be at least 4 billion tons of uranium dissolved in seawater. That's a staggering amount, but of course there is a lot of seawater out there, and even a low concentration of uranium could still amount to an overall huge weight. Wikipedia seems to think there is about 109 billion tons of water on the Earth.
Apparently a technique, developed in Japan, has cut the cost of extracting uranium from the sea to around $300 per pound of uranium. That would be at the natural isotopic abundance, presumably, so would need to be enriched for fuel. But still, to know that there is a huge reserve of uranium that can be extracted is useful. It can always form a backup in case we don't come up with something better.
Er, how can 4 billions tons dissolve in 10^9 tons of water? Is there more water?
ReplyDeleteYes.. yes there is. I missed a "billion" after 10^9. It's there now.
ReplyDeleteTa, and now its a lot more dilute. Still I hope nobody tells Romney this, or he'll be campaigning on a platform of tough sanctions on that uranium-rich threat, the city of Atlantis.
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