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Chemists have found a new use for the waste product of nuclear power - transforming an unused stockpile into a versatile compound which could be used to create valuable commodity chemicals as well as new energy sources.
Depleted uranium (DU) is a radioactive by-product from the process used to create nuclear energy. Many fear the health risks from DU, as it is either stored in expensive facilities or used to manufacture controversial armour-piercing missiles.
But, in a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Professor Geoff Cloke, Professor Richard Layfield and Dr Nikolaos Tsoureas, all at the University of Sussex, have revealed that DU could, in fact, be more useful than we might think.
By using a catalyst which contains depleted uranium, the researchers have managed to convert ethylene (an alkene used to make plastic) into ethane (an alkane used to produce a number of other compounds including ethanol).
Their work is a breakthrough that could help reduce the heavy burden of large-scale storage of DU, and lead to the transformation of more complicated alkenes.
Prof Layfield said: "The ability to convert alkenes into alkanes is an important chemical reaction that means we may be able to take simple molecules and upgrade them into valuable commodity chemicals, like hydrogenated oils and petrochemicals which can be used as an energy source.
"The fact that we can use depleted uranium to do this provides proof that we don't need to be afraid of it as it might actually be very useful for us."
Journal Reference:
Nikolaos Tsoureas, Laurent Maron, Alexander F. R. Kilpatrick, Richard A. Layfield, F. Geoffrey N. Cloke. Ethene Activation and Catalytic Hydrogenation by a Low-Valent Uranium Pentalene Complex. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2019; 142 (1): 89 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b11929
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RandomFactor on Monday January 13 2020, @03:10AM (8 children)
"The fact that we can use depleted uranium to do this provides proof that we don't need to be afraid of it as it might actually be very useful for us."
I'll be the first to admit that most of the OMGWTNUKULARFRADIATIONZ!11!1!1!!!crowd are generally...insufficiently informed, but the fact that a substance is useful doesn't impact how dangerous it is or is not.
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(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 13 2020, @03:34AM
Sure it is. That's why in the 1970s when the NIH did an in vitro screening of compounds to treat cancer it left out ascorbate on purpose. It was known to be so nontoxic that it would be stupid to even check they said. Turns out now it is the most selective killer of cancer cells ever seen.
https://www.cell.com/cancer-cell/fulltext/S1535-6108(17)30104-6 [cell.com]
(Score: 2) by Coward, Anonymous on Monday January 13 2020, @03:43AM (4 children)
Aren't people afraid of most things that are very useful?
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by c0lo on Monday January 13 2020, @05:43AM (3 children)
Ummm... really?
The way I know, only incels (and, maybe, some religious nuts) are afraid of sex.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 13 2020, @01:29PM (2 children)
people fear fire... fire made us humans
people fear eletricity ... it allow us to reach much higher technologic level
middle age people fear "magic" ... it is now called knowledge
(Score: 1, Troll) by c0lo on Monday January 13 2020, @01:43PM (1 child)
I still fail to see what the fear of fire, electricity or knowledge have to do with the fear of sex ("sex" taken as one of the things that "are very useful").
(large grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2, Insightful) by nitehawk214 on Monday January 13 2020, @03:54PM
People fear what they do not understand.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 13 2020, @12:29PM (1 child)
Seems so are you. You certainly don't want to have large concentrations of U-238 around willy-nilly. It's not a substance that is benign.
Complacency and ignorance are a dangerous combination. And that swings both ways - with the "OMGWTNUKULARFRADIATIONZ!11!1!1!!!crowd" as well as the other side of this name-calling charade.
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Tuesday January 14 2020, @02:01AM
RIF
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