Faculty Advisor: Peter C. Burns, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences

Advancing Towards a Sustainable Future for Nuclear Energy (Summer 2024)

In addressing the pressing challenge of transitioning our nation’s energy supply to more sustainable and energy efficient alternatives, nuclear energy emerges as a crucial part of a low carbon grid. While nuclear energy is one of the best low-carbon energy alternatives to fossil fuels, there are still inefficiencies within the nuclear fuel cycle. One problem in particular is in situ leaching to mine for the uranium that will be used in nuclear reactors, a process that requires a substantial amount of hydrogen peroxide for uranium recovery in mining solution. The use of hydrogen peroxide raises sustainability concerns because of its energy-intensive production process, logistics in transporting it by train, and the inherent hazards posed in its transportation. Not to mention it is expensive for uranium mining companies to purchase and use hydrogen peroxide.

The Burns Group has discovered a way by utilizing plasma electrolysis to produce hydrogen peroxide directly within the mining solution, facilitating the creation of insoluble uranium  without the need for additional hydrogen peroxide. While this research is in the early stages of development, it holds significant promise to make uranium mining more sustainable. It is crucial to discover the role of various chemical constituents in solution and how they impact the concentration of hydrogen peroxide during this process. Therefore, my proposed research for this summer aims to construct a reactor with consistent plasma conditions to investigate the effects of different ions in solution on the concentration of hydrogen peroxide.