New Scientist reported that China has developed a new way to extract uranium from seawater efficiently and more economically, possibly paving the way for a large-scale industrialization of uranium extraction.
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| China has developed a new method for uranium extraction |
China Leads the World in Nuclear Power Plant Expansion
According to New Scientist, China is leading the world in building new nuclear power plants, which will only be aided as they have developed a new method for efficient extraction of uranium from seawater. New Scientist reported that "half of the nuclear reactor projects currently under construction are in China," with their installed nuclear capacity to surpass both the US and European Union by 2030.
China has developed this as New Scientist reports that "the world's oceans hold an estimated 4.5 billion tonnes of uranium, which is more than 1000 times the amount that is available through mining."
China Develops New Method for Trapping Uranium with Electric Fields
Previous experiments have harvested uranium from seawater using artificial sponges made of a polymer material. Then there was a method that trapped uranium using an electric field.
According to New Scientist, researcher Shuangyin Wang at Hunan University along with colleagues have developed a new electrochemical method that is both cheaper and more efficient to extract uranium from seawater.
When they tested the method, they were able to extract 100% of the uranium from East China Sea and 85% of the uranium from the South China Sea.
The Cost Savings of New Uranium Extraction Method
They did this by running 1 liter of seawater through the system using two copper electrodes - one positive and one negative, and both collect uranium. This highly efficient method allows both electrodes to gather uranium with incredible cost savings.
Previous electrochemical methods cost $360 per kilogram of uranium extracted, while this new method claims that it cost $83 per kilogram of uranium extracted.
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