The uranium extract in seawater has progressed

The oceans on earth contain 4 billion tons of uranium, enough to run nuclear power plants and produce electricity for all the major cities in the world for thousands of years.

According to Scientific American, the oceans on Earth contain enough uranium to generate electricity for all the world's major cities for thousands of years - if we can extract this amount of uranium. A project funded by the US Department of Energy pursuing the goal of extracting uranium from the sea is making significant progress. Accordingly, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a material that can " effectively " remove uranium from the sea.

Picture 1 of The uranium extract in seawater has progressed
The sources of uranium on earth are forecast to run out in just 100 to 200 years.

This material includes polyethylene chemical impregnated with amidoxime . In seawater, amidoxime absorbs and attaches uranium dioxide to the surface of the fiber, with a diameter of 15 cm, depending on the extent of deployment. The scientists then used an acid treatment process to recover uranium in the form of uranyl ions, a product that still needs further processing and enrichment before becoming a fuel for use.

This process is still considered ineffective and costly, but Stephen Kung of the US Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Office, who is not involved in the project, said finding an alternative To exploit uranium ore is a necessary step in future nuclear energy plans. The sources of uranium on earth are forecast to run out in just 100 to 200 years."We need to have a long-term perspective on this resource," Kung said.

The following are impressive numbers of uranium in seawater that are included in the special report on Industrial and Technical Chemistry Research:

  1. There are 3.3 Micrograms of uranium that exist in 1 liter of seawater.
  2. A total of 4 billion tons of uranium in seawater.
  3. Extraction of 6 grams of uranium adhered to 1kg of smoking material.
  4. It takes 8 weeks to extract 6 grams of uranium.
  5. 27,000 Kilograms is the total amount of uranium needed to operate a 1-gigawatt nuclear power plant in a year.