However, it contains about 15 per cent of the isotope 107Pd. It has been forecast that fission palladium will be produced by 1990 at a rate equal to that of natural palladium (70,000 ounces troy in the U.S.A. Hence, with world production of platinum group metals probably exceeding 4,000,000 ounces this year, something of the order of 1,800,000 ounces of palladium will be mined. Russian deposits appear to yield more palladium than platinum South African deposits yield about one ounce of palladium for three of platinum. However, the demand for platinum, which is only available from natural sources, is rising at a similar rate and mining operations for platinum yield enough associated palladium to meet the increased demand. World usage has climbed from half a million ounces troy in 1962 to more than one million ounces troy per annum at present and the demand shows no sign of abating. Palladium has its principal use in electrical contacts but it is also important for catalysts and for alloys used in the diffusion purification of hydrogen. Of the platinum group metals only ruthenium, palladium and rhodium are produced in significant amounts during the nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium. Much of the quantitative information supporting these conclusions has been published previously ( 3, 5) but we will repeat salient points and give some new data based on studies made by the Urited Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority ( 6), to whom we are grateful for discussions. The cost of recovering fission products and of decontaminating them (so far as may be possible) is likely to be high since the processing must eliminate any risks of the escape of very dangerous wastes in any form whatsoever.įor some years industrial demand has been for more platinum in matching this demand by mining natural ores there has been a more than adequate generation of the associated metals of the group. Radioactive contamination of this recycled pool would introduce irreversible hazards. The platinum group metals are not destroyed in industrial use but are recycled many times through the refineries. There are adequate mineral reserves under development and the recovery of fission products is not therefore imperative.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |