Nuclear energy is undergoing a renaissance because it does not contribute to global warming. However, even ignoring the issue of radioactive waste, the production of nuclear energy has its own environmental impacts. The mining and refining of uranium produces tailings that slowly leach uranium and other toxic metals into aquifers. Military use of depleted uranium also releases materials that can contaminate aquifers and drinking water supplies. However, the more common route for human ingestion of uranium is from natural waters in contact with uranium-rich granitoids. Uranium is a health risk due to its heavy metal character that leads to damage to the kidneys. Therefore, there is a strong need for processes to prevent contamination of aquifers and purification of drinking water supplied especially since commonly used water treatment processes are not effective. We will report the results of an investigation of the effectiveness of Group VIB oxides for removing uranium from drinking water and ocean water. These have extremely high capacity for uranium absorption since the metal is sequestered as an insoluble tungstate mineral. An attractive feature of this process is the ease by which the uranium can be isolated and the sorbent that can then be regenerated for reuse. It is also possible to design a sorbent that can �mine� the oceans for uranium.

Inorganic sorbents for remediation and isolation of uranium

248th National Meeting (2014)

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