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: 2) by Username on Monday January 13 2020, @01:49PM (1 child)
Yeah, there is climate change level of science in this summary. Process used to create nuclear energy? Far as I know all DU comes from enrichment centrifuges. Like those Iranian ones that got bricked by exploiting a siemens zeroday. Armour-piercing missiles? I never heard of a DU missile, maybe a rocket grenade? They use it primarily in bullets, and having DU doesn't make it AP, having a steel core makes it AP rounds. You can legally own DU bullets, but not AP.
(Score: 2) by dry on Monday January 13 2020, @09:01PM
There are armor piercing DU shells. Besides being dense, it is used as it is self sharpening and flammable. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depleted_uranium#Ammunition [wikipedia.org]
While legal under international law as its primary purpose is not to poison, it is poison enough as a heavy metal that there is a movement to illegalize them. A strict reading of the 2nd amendment would only cover military arms due to the militia clause though Congress is free to legalize other arms.