Bloomberg Businessweek USA - 02.09.2019

91

Pa

Protactinium

(MOSTLY)

USELESS

By Samanth Subramanian

77

Nuclear power’s once-bright promise

of reliable carbon-free electricity has

dimmed the past three decades because

of escalating costs, problems with

new technologies, and the disasters at

Chernobyl and Fukushima. But it’s still

pretty bright in China. The International

Energy Agency expects its nuclear

capacity to grow by 111 gigawatts

from 2017 to 2040, and the rest of the

world’s to drop by 7GW.

An obvious question, at least for

anyone who’s seen HBO’s miniseries

Chernobyl, is whether these ambitions

risk a repeat of the crises of the past.

China hasn’t had any serious nuclear

incidents since its first plant began oper-

ating in 1991, and the World Nuclear

Association praises it for “unprece-

dented eagerness to achieve the world’s

best standards in nuclearsafety.” But

a report published last year by Mark

Hibbs, a senior fellow in the Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace’s

Nuclear Policy Program, points to sev-

eralpotential challenges. If China builds

too many types of reactors—it’s devel-

oping three and experimenting with

others, including thorium-fueled ones—

regulators could find it hard to set

standards and conduct inspections. The

country also favors parts from a domes-

tic manufacturingindustry focused on

92

U

Uranium

Bloomberg Businessweek / SEPTEMBER 2, 2019 THE ELEMENTS

◼ Actinium Price on request

◼ Thorium $72 / kg Thorium compounds, India market

◼ Protactinium Not available

◼ Uranium $85.54 / kg Average purchase price, U.S. civilian nuclear power reactors

90

Th

Thorium

URANIUM’S NICER SISTER

By Stephen Stapczynski

THE PROBLEM

Nuclear reactors relying on uranium

are prone to major accidents,

produce waste that’s hard to dispose

of safely, and can make fissile

material for weapons.

THE SOLUTION?

Thorium is more abundant, less

radioactive, produces less waste,

and can’t be turned into nukes.

The leading proposed technology

for thorium power, the molten-salt

reactor, also operates under normal

atmospheric pressure. So, unlike

reactors that use water to moderate

nuclear reactions inside containment

vessels, thtere’s no chance of

pressure building to the point of

explosion if a problem occurs. The

technology was demonstrated in

U.S. labs in the 1960s, and China

and France are working on it again,

according to the World Nuclear

Association.

THE CATCH

Designingreactors, a challenge to

begin with, is that much harder with

an unproven fuel.

▶WHAT’S IT LOOK LIKE?

In daylight, it’s silvery with

a leadlike softness; in the

dark, it’s surrounded by a

pale blue glow.

▶WHY’S IT

(MOSTLY) USELESS?

It’s frighteningly radio-

active, hence the glow.

▶WHAT’S IT USED FOR?

Xofigo, a Bayer AG drug

that treats prostate

cancer, has an active

ingredient derived from

an actinium isotope.

89

Ac

Actinium

(MOSTLY)

USELESS

By Samanth Subramanian

▶WHAT’S IT LOOK LIKE?

In the air it’s bright

and silvery for a while

before a dark film of

oxide gradually creeps

over its surface.

▶WHY’S IT

(MOSTLY) USELESS?

Protactinium’s longest-

lasting isotope is quite

stable, with a half-life of

about 32,700years, but

it’s scarce. In uranium

ores, it occurs with

a frequency of three

China  Fission

By Dan Murtaugh and

Stephen Stapczynski

NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN CHINA

● Operable● Under construction● Planned/proposed

Scientists have filed pat-

ents to fight cancers with^

actinium radionuclides, but

these aren’t close to full-

fledged treatments yet.

▶ CAN I GET SOME?

With difficulty. The most

stable isotope, Ac-227,

has a half-life of about

21 years, but it’s van-

ishingly rare—a ton of

uranium ore contains just

a tenth of a milligram.

Most of the world’s sup-

ply of Ac-227 is produced

for research purposes by

the Oak Ridge National

Laboratory in Tennessee;

glass vials of the stuff

are available for purchase

by special order. Oak

Ridge provides prices on

request.

parts per million, at

most. The world’s stock

long consisted mainly

of 125grams the U.K.

extracted from 60 tons of

spent uranium fuel in 1961.

Protactinium is now also

derived as a byproduct of

thorium fission reactors.

▶WHAT’S IT USED FOR?

Practically nothin g.

Geologists can compare

the concentrations of

protactinium and thorium to

date marine sediment

samples, though the method

works only for samples less

than 175,000 years old.

▶ CAN I GET SOME?

No. Oak Ridge National

Laboratory’s sizable catalog

of radioactive elements

doesn’t even include

protactinium.

low costs, a risk when a typical plant

needs 3,000 nuclear-grade valves,

250 pumps, 44 miles of piping, 300 miles

of electrical wiring, and 90,000 electrical

components. “There is a real possibility

that this issue may lead to an accident if

not rigorously pursued,” Hibbs writes.

Before Fukushima, some estimated

that China’s capacity would reach as

high as 500 gigawatts, almost five

times the current projection. But

within a week of a tsunami striking the

Japanese nuclear plant, the Chinese

government suspended approvals of

new nuclear power projects. It later

lowered plant-building targets, boosted

regulation, and specified that reactor

models must feature newer technol-

ogy to be approved. It again paused

approvals in late 2016, though there

have been reports the drought will end

this year. �With Feifei Shen