Using Waste To Recover Waste Uranium

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:24:15 GMT  <== Politics ==> 

Science News - E. Coli bacteria plus inisotol phosphate, a cheap waste material, can recover Uranium from nuclear plant waste water, economically. Nice. [slashdot]

As an example, if pure inositol phosphate, bought from a commercial supplier is used, the cost of this process is £1.72 per gram of uranium recovered. If a cheaper source of inositol phosphate is used (eg calcium phytate) the cost reduces to £0.09 for each gram of recovered uranium. At 2007 prices, uranium cost £0.211/g; it is currently £0.09/g. These prices make the process economic overall because there is also an environmental protection benefit. Use of low-grade inositol phosphate from agricultural wastes would bring the cost down still further and the economic benefit will also increase as the price of uranium is forecast to rise again.

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