( By Adam Johnson )
The most vital resource to nuclear power is the nuclear fuel which is used to drive the nuclear reactions and generate heat. Currently the most common way uranium nuclear fuel is produced, is by mining it from the earth and processing it so that it is suitable for use in nuclear reactors. There are some estimates that predict the land-based sources of uranium will be depleted in a few hundred years. Therefore, it is time we start investigating alternatives for obtaining nuclear fuel.
Japanese researchers are considering harvesting uranium from the largest available resource on earth–the oceans. The idea is to construct large underwater sponge farms with specially designed sponges capable of absorbing uranium. The article states that there are approximately 4.5 billion tons of uranium suspended in the world’s oceans. To put this into perspective, Japanese nuclear reactors process 8,000 tons of uranium each year. Although the concentration of uranium in seawater is around 3 parts per billion, the proposed sponges are designed to absorb this low level concentration.
The sponges are made from irradiated polyethylene fabric developed by Dr. Masao Tanada of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency. Dr. Tanada claims that the technology could be commercially available in as little as five years. He suggests conducting a pilot project that would cover an area of 400 square miles. This size sponge farm could absorb enough uranium to meet a sixth of Japan’s annual uranium needs.
“Other countries are conducting similar research, but none as advanced as we are,” states Dr. Tanada. It is estimated that the uranium “just floating around” is worth in the neighborhood of $720 trillion. If this technology proves to be successful, you can bet that others will soon attempt to soak up the benefits as well.
Here is a link to the original article(s):
http://inventorspot.com/articles/undersea_uranium_farms_could_be_goldmine_29171
It is also worthy to note that most countries reprocess their spent fuel and regain around 95% of the usable uranium. We do not currently reprocess here in the US because of outdated proliferation concerns and legislation. Its hard to imagine that other countries are pulling uranium from seawater and we aren’t even using some of the technologies that have been around for decades.