Scientists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Ozersk Technological Institute, and the Russian Academy of Sciences have been working to improve a processing technology for a monazite concentrate. Monazite is a mineral raw material which is a source of rare earth elements and thorium. Thorium production is being expanded as part of a thorium-uranium fuel cycle that is considered to be more eco-friendly when compared to the fuel cycle based on uranium and plutonium. An article related to this research is being published in the journal Energies.
A team of scientists from FEFU and Ozersk Technological Institute (a branch of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI) have optimized the technology of alkaline extraction of thorium from its main source. This source is monazite concentrate stored at Uralmonazite State Enterprise (Krasnoufimsk, Sverdlovsk Region). The raw mineral contains fifty to sixty eight percent rare earth elements and ten to twenty eight percent thorium oxide.
Professor Ivan Tananaev is the leader of the work, and the Head of the School of Natural Sciences at FEFU. He said, “Unlike uranium mineral products, the mineral commodities of thorium are found in abundance both in the Russian Federation and all over the world. A shift to the thorium-uranium cycle would secure the environmentally friendly development of the nuclear industry because this technology does not lead to the accumulation of nuclear waste. Moreover, as it claimed in scientific papers, with thorium-based fuel elements adoption, the nuclear core can be reduced by 2 to 3 times with no losses in the energy output. Also, according to this scenario, the reactor can be operated continuously for an estimated 50 years without fuel reloading."
According to Tananaev, changing to the thorium-uranium fuel cycle could happen in the near future in Russia because the National nuclear energy development program is considered to be a priority for the modernization of Russia’s economy. Until recently, the nuclear industry in Russia has been utilizing the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle. This technology was developed in the middle of the Twentieth Century. Tananaev believes that the utilization of an alternative thorium-uranium fuel cycle will have a number of indirect benefits. One benefit would be that the production of thorium will facilitate development of the rare earth elements industry. In addition, monazite production also results in the production of phosphate fertilizers which can be exploited in agriculture.
This research was carried out under the cooperation Agreement between FEFU and the National Research Nuclear University MEPhl and supported by a grant from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. Professor Ivan. G. Tananaev from the School of Natural Sciences at FEFU is the principle investigator.
The U.S. is currently working on the development of ANEEL which is a nuclear fuel that contains thorium and uranium. It is hoped that it will be available to fuel U.S. and foreign reactors within a few years.
India is also working on the development of thorium reactors. They have a great needed for more electrical generation and they also have large quantities of thorium sands on their beaches.