Nuclear energy It is essential for China. The development he has experienced in this Asian country during the last two decades supports this statement. In 2002 he only had two nuclear centrals in operation. Today you have nothing less than 58 activity in activity. Only US has more (94). There is no doubt about one thing: during the last two decades China’s civil and military nuclear program It has advanced with a dizzying speed. And it seems that he will continue to do so.
Anyway the heart of the nuclear program of the country led by Xi Jinping, and that of any other nation that bets on nuclear energy, It is uranium. This chemical element is present in nature in very low concentrations, usually in rocks, land and water. Hence, its obtaining is expensive and its complex treatment, since it requires chemical processes capable of separating it from the other elements and impurities with which it usually lives.
It has 92 protons and many other electrons orbiting around the nucleus, and the latter incorporates, in addition to the protons, between 142 and 146 neutrons. It is important that we remember that the nucleus of an atom is usually constituted by a certain number of protons and neutrons (although not always: the protio, the isotope of the most abundant hydrogen, has a single proton and no neutron in its nucleus), as well as by some electrons that orbit around it.
China already knows how to exploit deposits that until now were inaccessible
The fact that the number of neutrons of the uranium nucleus can vary, as we have just seen, it indicates that there are several isotopes of this chemical element, which are nothing other than atoms with the same number of protons and electrons, but different number of neutrons. The reason why in nuclear fission reactors An uranium-235 atom is used, and not another isotope of this element or any other chemical element, it is that by bombarding its nucleus with a neutron (a process that is known as induced fission) the Uranium-235 is transformed into Uranium-236, which is a more unstable element.
This simply means that Uranium-236 cannot remain long in its current state, so it is divided into two lighter nuclei, such as barium-144 and crypton-89 or Cesium-137 and Rubidio-96, and also emits two or three neutrons (2.5 neutrons on average). And here comes the really interesting: the sum of the masses of the light nuclei It is slightly lower than that of the Uranium-236 nucleus from which they come (“disappears” around 0.1% of the original mass). Where has the mass we lack? Only one is possible: it has been transformed into energy.
Its largest uranium deposit lies in the Ordos basin, in northern China
Until now, China has obtained the uranium that its nuclear power plants need from their Xinjiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Yunnan and Sichuan deposits. However, it also matters from Namibia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Canada and Australia, among other countries. The funny thing is that its largest uranium deposit lies in the Ordos basin, in northern China, but has a very important problem: It is very difficult to exploit it. In fact, until just a few months that uranium was essentially inaccessible using existing extraction and processing technology.
The technical limitations led to the Chinese government years ago to rule out the exploitation of the mines of the Ordos basin, but in 2023 it changed their minds and decided to launch a project called “National Uranium Nº1”. His plan consisted of Develop the necessary technology To extract and process the uranium of ordos with a purpose: take a giant step on the way to China’s self -sufficiency in the field of nuclear energy.
The problem of this huge site was that uranium is disseminated and mixed with other sandstone -shaped elements. And it is difficult to process it without the costs are triggered. Even so, in mid -2024 China produced natural uranium by first time by leaching in situ. And now, According to the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC)has produced its first uranium barrel using this method.
The leaching in situ requires injecting in the bed of underground ore through wells a solution of carbon dioxide and oxygen that is capable of dissolving uranium. Then it is necessary to pump to the surface the liquid contained in this chemical element and process it. China’s merit is not just having solved this challenge by finding the ideal aqueous solution; is having achieved it from an economically viable and environmentally respectful formalways According to the information that the National Uranium Corporation of China has made public.
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