Uranium Seawater Extraction Makes Nuclear Power Completely Renewable

[Ksheed]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2016/07/01/uranium-seawater-extraction-makes-nuclear-power-completely-renewable/#ab9588a46e2a

[hamsamich]

I'm sure this won't impress the true eviro-nuts since the bad word "nuclear" is involved.

[Marlin]

   Other mining operations make money off of byproduct materials such as rare earths and gold. I wonder if that is in the economic impact of this kind of production. I would assume that it would only operate when there was an order to fill. When building a power plant the order for copper starts at the mine which has gold as one of it's byproducts.
   On the environmental side that would be a lot of seawater to process the ecological impact would seem to be fairly large.

[hamsamich]

Only if they have to add stuff to it that won't go away, or concentrate it.  Probably way better than putting hi concentration brine back in the ocean.

[Marlin]

Only if they have to add stuff to it that won't go away, or concentrate it.  Probably way better than putting hi concentration brine back in the ocean.

Maybe but at 3 ppb uranium concentration that's a lot of seawater to process for a significant recovery, the volume alone has to have some impact. Perhaps thermal or filtration of that much water. I don't think fish kills from nuclear plants that shutdown during the winter were initially considered.

Just speculation you may be right that a little brine to the briny may be all there is.

[GLW]

AIUI  no brine, fibers are collected and acid treatment utilized to produce uranyl then fibers resuspended in ocean and passive adsorption cycle begins again ,.....   no brine,...

[Rerun]

And costs?

[GLW]

And costs?

a decade ago - >$800/lb U3O8


currently - north of $200/lb U3O8

[SloGlo]

sew, uranium is an extreme equilibrium seeker? never new that bee fore.

[GLW]

sew, uranium is an extreme equilibrium seeker? never new that bee fore.

well, that's why you come here, to learn stuff you never gnu,...

[SloGlo]

aye wuzzant referencing radioactive equilibrium oar secular equilibrium, moor a physical equilibrium. butt gnaw ledge is a grate thing two gain.