Hidden uranium in Morocco .. Hope in the face of water and energy lack sciences

The Moroccan revolution has always been associated with phosphate ore using it in the manufacture of fertilizers, and later in the manufacture of lithium ion batteries, but a recent Moroccan study indicates a third use, which can solve the thirst crises and lack of energy, which is the extraction of hidden uranium from phosphate rocks, to operate nuclear reactions for desalination of sea water, according to the published reference study Patrolling “Radish Fezix & as Mustari.”

Morocco faces a suffocating water crisis. With the increase in drought and the repetition of heat waves, water resources have decreased to disturbing levels, until the individual’s share of water annually became less than 600 cubic meters, according to United Nations reports, which is classified within the “acute water scarcity”.

In return, there is an increasing demand for water in agriculture, industry, and urban communities, which exacerbates the problem, and makes desalination of sea water an unavoidable option to secure alternative sources of fresh water, but this solution clashes with the high cost obstacle to the energy sources needed to operate desalination plants, as well as the negative environmental impact of these sources that depend on fossil fuels.

To face these challenges, the study prepared by researchers from the nuclear, atomic and molecular physics laboratory at the Faculty of Science, Shuaib Al -Doukkali University in El Jadida, explores the employment of a relatively new technology in the region, which is desalination of sea water using nuclear energy, as this technology depends on the heat of nuclear reactors to evaporate sea water and separate salts from it, which makes it effective and economic in the long run, and has a low environmental impact compared to desalination stations Traditional that depends on fossil fuels.

But the main obstacle to this strategy lies in securing permanent supply of uranium, the basic fuel for the operation of nuclear reactors, and can be overcome by resorting to hidden uranium in phosphate rocks, according to the study.

Surprise in the heart of phosphate

Morocco is ranked first in the world in phosphate reserves (about 50 billion tons), and the study estimated its possession within these rocks a buried treasure estimated at 6.9 million tons of uranium, which qualifies it to be the largest global source of unconventional uranium, i.e. extracted from sources other than its direct mineral materials.

Uranium is mixed inside the phosphate rocks in the form of very accurate impurities, that is, it is part of the phosphate itself, and when processing phosphate in factories, a process in which wet phosphorous acid is produced for the manufacture of fertilizers, a large part of this uranium inside the acid is dissolved as a chemical compound.

Since this acid is an important secondary product in the manufacture of phosphate fertilizers, the presence of uranium in it means that there is an opportunity to extract it from the industrial process itself, without the need to extract new materials from the ground, where many studies indicate that more than 80% of uranium in phosphate decomposes in the acid during treatment, which means that it can be extracted in a relative easily if the appropriate technologies and industrial support are available.

The Moroccan study reviewed three promising ways to extract this uranium, the first of which is to extract solvents, which is the most currently used method, and it relies on extracting uranium from “wet phosphorous acid”, which is an important side outcome in the fertilizer industry, and in this process is used in this process, special organic compounds capable of linking with uranium molecules without others, which allows them to separate them from the rest of the acid components.

In this process, the acid is mixed with the organic solvent, so uranium moves to the organic layer, while the other components remain in the water layer, and this method is effective and industrially used on a large scale, but its most prominent disadvantages that some organic compounds may be toxic or polluting the environment if not treated well.

The second method, which is the ion exchange, depends on the use of industrial resins, which have electrical charges capable of attracting uranium ions and replacing them with other ions such as hydrogen or sodium.

In this way, the uranium -containing phosphate solutions pass through columns filled with resin, so the resins are picked up uranium ions and instead released not radioactive ions, and this method achieves accuracy of the insulation, and ease of reusing the resins after cleaning them, while their flaws, they need a constant renewal of resin, and may be expensive in long -term operation.

Finally, the techniques of membranes and physical separation, which are described as the future of nuclear extraction, come, as it depends on the use of accurate or nanoparticles capable of separating uranium molecules with high accuracy, and the most famous examples of “reverse osmosis”, which depends on using high pressure to push the solution through a special membrane that allows the passage of water and prevents uranium, and the method of “nano -separation”, which is based on more accurate membranes It is able to reserve uranium molecules without the need for solvents.

The advantages of this method are environmentally friendly and do not depend on harmful chemical compounds, as they are more efficient in cases of low concentration of uranium, and their faults are, they are still in the stage of research and industrial development, and they need high initial investments.

Strategic opportunities and challenges

And the exploitation of this resource opens to Morocco with multiple strategic prospects that the study indicates, most notably energy independence, by reducing dependence on nuclear fuel imports from abroad, achieving water security, by supporting nuclear desalination projects to provide drinking water to citizens, and Morocco’s occupation of an international position such as the global nuclear fuel market, and finally achieving integrated industrial development, by linking the phosphate sector to energy industries And nuclear technologies.

This step is in line with the global trends towards the green economy and clean energy, especially in light of the growing international interest in nuclear energy as a low carbon alternative.

Despite these advantages, the matter is not without some challenges indicated by the study, such as the high cost of extracting uranium from phosphate compared to traditional sources, the need for an advanced industrial infrastructure capable of safe treatment, a lack of legislative frameworks that regulate unconventional nuclear mining activities, environmental concerns associated with the disposal of radioactive waste.