lesnoviet.blogg.se - Endless space 2 depletion

The generation of electricity from nuclear fuel was incidental to the nuclear arms race.

A military era, from 1945 to the mid-1960s.

Uranium production over the period 1945-2020 can be divided into four distinct phases: Table 2: Uranium resources by country in 2019 * US DOE-funded work using polymer absorbent strips suggest $610/kgU in 2014. Japanese (JAERI) research in 2002 using a polymeric absorbent in a nonwoven fabric containing an amidoxime group that was capable of forming a complex with uranyl tricarbonate ions, suggested about $300/kgU. Factors affecting the supply of resources are discussed further and illustrated in Appendix 2. Thus, any predictions of the future availability of any mineral, including uranium, which are based on current cost and price data, as well as current geological knowledge, are likely to prove extremely conservative.

For example, at present neither the oceans nor any granites are orebodies, but conceivably either could become so if prices were to rise sufficiently. At ten times the current price*, seawater, for example, might become a potential source of vast amounts of uranium. Orebodies, and thus measured resources – the amount known to be economically recoverable from orebodies – are therefore relative to both costs of extraction and market prices. The only meaningful measure of long-term security of supply is the known reserves in the ground capable of being mined.Īn orebody is, by definition, an occurrence of mineralisation from which the metal is economically recoverable. Total world resources of uranium, as with any other mineral or metal, are not known exactly. This means that it needs to be in a mineral form that can easily be dissolved by sulfuric acid or sodium carbonate leaching. * Where uranium is at low levels in rock or sands (certainly less than 1000 ppm) it needs to be in a form which is easily separated for those concentrations to be called 'ore' – that is, implying that the uranium can be recovered economically. Table 1: Typical natural uranium concentrations Very high-grade ore (Canada) – 20% U It is a metal approximately as common as tin or zinc, and it is a constituent of most rocks and even of the sea. Uranium is a relatively common element in the crust of the Earth (very much more than in the mantle).

The world's known uranium resources increased by at least one-quarter in the last decade due to increased mineral exploration.

Quantities of mineral resources are greater than commonly perceived, and are relative to both market prices and cost of extraction.

Economic concentrations of it are not uncommon.

Uranium is a relatively common metal, found in rocks and seawater.