Newsgroup: it.scienza.chimica
Titolo: Potrebbe aver senso una cosa del genere ?

Dai due blogs che seguo frequentemente, sarei curioso di sapere che ne 
pensate, avrebbe (non dico oggi, ma magari nel prossimo futuro) ricavare 
preziosi e rari materiali come le terre rare in questo modo? E' fattibile la 
seprazione chimica/fisica dei vari elementi chimici, superato un determinato 
periodo di "compostaggio nucleare " dal waste stream di un reattore al 
torio, assumendo ovviamente che sia quasi completamente depurato dagli 
elementi pi� pesanti (gli attinidi, i transuranici, ecc..) e contenga quasi 
esclusivamente i prodotti pi� leggeri di fissione? O, per es., dalla 
salamoia in un impianto di dissalazione dell' acqua salata ?
http://thoriumenergy.blogspot.com/2009/11/nuclear-composting.html
" Ever wonder what becomes of uranium after it fissions? I've wondered, so I 
went and found out. Here's what it turns into, roughly in order of mass: 
Xenon, zirconium, neodymium, molybdenum, cerium, cesium, ruthenium, barium, 
lanthanum, praseodymium, and a dozen or so other elements..."
http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/2009/12/oak-ridge-paradigm-and-thorium.html
" Critics of Nuclear power would describe that stream as nuclear waste. But 
many of the stable fission byproducts that leave a reactor are not 
dangerous, and in fact are valuable minerals like Neodymium, an rare but 
essential material that will be much in demand in a post carbon economy, and 
Palladium a rare and valuable mineral which is often used as a chemical 
catalyst, but also has uses in jewelry and electronics. These an many other 
valuable materials can be extracted from the stream of stable fission 
byproducts that are produced from reactors. Even radioactive fission 
products have their uses in an industrial economy.
Thus the LFTR will provide a virtually inexhaustible stream of exactly the 
sort of minerals which the Club of Rome insists will be in such short supply 
that civilization will collapse due to their absence. But fission products 
are not the only minerals that the thorium economy will produce. Numerous 
minerals including rare earths and phosphate are found in association with 
thorium ore. So called low grade thorium ore, can be recovered with a 
favorable energy return is used as a LFTR fuel source. Thorium in 
concentrations as low as 10 parts per million an be mined with attractive 
energy returned on energy invested. Associated minerals can be recovered 
along with the thorium. Thus low concentration rare earths and phosphate 
ores can be recovered as part of thorium mining while maintaining as 
positive energy rate of return. The Club of Rome particularly points to 
phosphate shortages as a future threat to civilization and indeed to human 
life. Thus an assured source of phosphate will be of great future 
importance. Because the recovery of thorium will basically pay for the 
mining operation, the other recovered materials, including phosphate will 
simply add to the thorium related product stream.
Finally a third materials stream can be developed from nuclear 
desalinization. The desalinization process leaves a mineral rich brine as a 
by product. Many minerals, like lithium dissolved in the sea water, that 
might not be economically recoverable directly from the sea, would be 
recoverable from the brine. Thus minerals that might not be economically 
recoverable from the sea, could be recovered at market competitive prices "
oppure dallo stesso sito, identici concetti
http://nucleargreen.blogspot.com/2009/11/solving-world-water-problems-what.html
" Finally it should be noted that the brine produced by the nuclear 
desalinization process contains many valuable minerals, that have been 
sufficiently concentrated by the desalinization process that their recovery 
is possible. The recovery of minerals from the nuclear desalinization 
process would thus provide a further revenue stream for a reactor owner "
Commenti ed opinioni sono ovviamente ben accetti 

 reattore al torio,
Torio od uranio indifferentemente, ovviamnete, purch� non contenga se non 
ridottissime percentuali di elementi pesanti come il plutonio, gli attinidi, 
ecc...ma solo i prodotti di fissione propriamente detti