China has a new breakthrough in nuclear industry

SCMP newspaper quoted Chinese nuclear scientists as saying that the mines uranium Giants have been found at depths previously thought impossible, increasing China’s total estimated uranium reserves tenfold to more than 2 million tons – putting China on a par with Australia, one of the world’s largest nations. richest uranium in the world.

Using some of the most advanced technology and equipment in the world, geologists have increased the exploration depth to 3,000 meters – six times deeper than most of China’s uranium mines.

“This world-leading project is a major breakthrough for our country,” China National Nuclear Corporation announced on its WeChat social media account.

China’s demand for uranium is growing, its nuclear power supply is growing faster than any other country in the world, with 7 or 8 nuclear reactor Newly built every year.

However, most uranium mines in China are small-scale with poor ore quality, and more than 70% of China’s uranium supply comes from countries such as Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. This overreliance on foreign supplies has made Beijing nervous about security risks.

Li Ziying, director of the Uranium Geological Research Institute in Beijing, said the discovery challenged mainstream theories of uranium mine formation.

It is generally believed that the radioactive element is concentrated only in a shallow, geophysically stable area. But some of the largest uranium deposits found in southern China in recent years lie more than 1,500 meters below the surface.

These regions have experienced intense tectonic movements that, according to previous theories, could make the lengthy and complex uranium ore formation impossible.

According to the authorities China nuclearLi and his colleagues found that uranium can originate straight from the crust and get trapped in small “hot spots” a few thousand meters below ground in some large tectonic collisions.

In an interview with the daily Science and Technology, Li said it’s hard to notice that there’s usually only a small mark on the surface of a deep uranium mine. Therefore, determining the location of the mine is as difficult as finding a CD in an area of ​​​​10,000 km2.

Over the past decade, Chinese researchers have developed advanced technology and equipment to aid in the hunt for deep uranium, according to a paper published by Li’s team in the peer-reviewed journal Instruments. Water Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry.

Technologies and equipment include a super-sensitive airborne remote sensor that allows scientists to detect a small trace of heat generated by radioactive ore with unprecedented accuracy over a wide area.

Chinese researchers have also developed a drill with a special drill head to take samples from deep areas more efficiently than ever before, while speeding up data analysis with artificial intelligence technology.

The discovery will not immediately change China’s reliance on imported uranium because of the many technical and cost challenges to mining the deposits, according to a North Korean nuclear fuel researcher. Terrible. But in the long run, it will likely have a profound impact on China’s position in the global market.

Public information shows that China has explored and purchased uranium deposits in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe in recent years. The Chinese government has also invested heavily in the development of powerful filter materials that can extract uranium from seawater.

To improve fuel efficiency, the Chinese nuclear authorities plan to build several facilities nuclear waste recycling using different technologies, including particle accelerators.

In Wuwei, Gansu province, China is building an experimental molten salt reactor using thorium, a new nuclear fuel that China has abundant supplies of.