Lyu Chang reports that a top nuclear research institute has discovered the existence of natural metallic uranium in China, disproving a previous belief it could exist only as a compound naturally, thus requiring extraction treatment.
A team from Beijing Research Institute of Uranium Geology at China National Nuclear Corporation has found ores containing metallic uranium in northern Guangdong province, which could help provide a secure supply to Chinas ever-growing nuclear industry.
Li Ziying, its president and senior geologist, said the team used a ground-breaking technique called X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy in its study. He explained uranium-a radioactive metal that is largely used to fuel nuclear power plants normally exists as an oxide, and has never before been found naturally in its pure-metal form because of its instability and changeable nature.
Li said that the uranium was found at a relatively shallow level beneath the surface, but that the discovery provided evidence that resources could be found at a depth up to 3,000 meters. Although only a portion of the uranium remained in its metallic state, Li said the percentage of pure uranium detected may reflect depth deposits. It gives us a way to study the origin of hydrothermal uranium deposits, and will have a positive effect on domestic fuel supply, said Li.
Large uranium deposits are found in Africa, Central Asia, Australia and Canada. The global uranium price has fallen in recent years as a result of the economic slowdown and Japans Fukushima damage caused by tsunamis in 2011. But experts say a bull market could be forming, driven by Chinas booming nuclear industry.
Some 26 nuclear reactors are in operation in China with 24 units under construction by the end of June, 2015.
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