Wadeeah M. Al-Areqi

Separation of thorium (IV) from lanthanide concentrate (LC) and water leach purification (WLP) residue

Thorium (IV) content in industrial residue produced from rare earth elements production industry is one of the challenges to Malaysian environment. Separation of thorium from the lanthanide concentrate (LC) and Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue from rare earth elements production plant is described. Both materials have been tested by sulphuric acid and alkaline digestions. Th concentrations in LC and WLP were determined to be 1289.7 ± 129 and 1952.9±17.6 ppm respectively. The results of separation show that the recovery of Th separation from rare earth in LC after concentrated sulphuric acid dissolution and reduction of acidity to precipitate Th was found 1.76-1.20% whereas Th recovery from WLP was less than 4% after concentrated acids and alkali digestion processes. Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was used to determine Th concentrations in aqueous phase during separation stages. This study indicated that thorium maybe exists in refractory and insoluble form which is difficult t...

Pengekstrakan pelarut torium daripada unsur nadir bumi dalam pekatan torium monazit

Solvent extraction is a powerful separation technique in the preparation of nuclear grade thorium. In this study, monazite thorium concentrates produced from Malaysian monazite were used. Thorium was extracted from an aqueous nitric acid medium with TBP (30%) in kerosene and Aliquat-336 (10%) in kerosene, respectively. Constant experimental conditions were used for the extraction in terms of the molarity of nitric acid, concentration of extractants in kerosene, organic/aqueous volumetric ratio, mixing time, and contact time between phases. The stripping process was carried out with distilled water. The determination of thorium and rare earth elements (REEs) in the monazite thorium concentrates and aqueous solutions were performed by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of thorium in the thorium concentrate samples were in the range of 11.58 – 83.56%. Three stages of extraction and three stages of stripping were carried out for the extraction of thorium from the REEs in the nitrate solution. The results of the study showed that the thorium extraction efficiency was in the range of 60.96 – 99.75% using TBP (30%) in kerosene and Aliquat-336 (10%) in kerosene. Thorium was stripped from the loaded TBP (30%) in kerosene and Aliquat-336 (10%) in kerosene at an average stripping percentage of 89.04% and 75.75%, respectively. The stripped aqueous solutions were analysed, and it was shown that the thorium content was in the range of 29.49 – 91.28%. This study indicated that both extractants can be successfully used to recover thorium from REEs, but in order to increase the purification of thorium, the extraction and stripping process cycle should be increased.

Standardless EDXRF application for quantification of thorium (Th), uranium (U) and rare earth elements (REEs) in various Malaysian rare earth ores

Our local rare earth ores contained substantial amount of Thorium and Uranium which the level exceed permissible limit adopted by Malaysia and many importing nation. X-ray fluorescence technique has been applied for determination of thorium (Th), uranium (U) and rare earth elements (REEs) in Malaysian rare earth ores as it’s recognized as viable tool. XRF has been widely used in detecting elemental composition of unknown materials both qualitative and quantitatively because of its wide range of element detection alongside the non-destructive analytical technique with great accuracy and precision. Four types of minerals sample which is monazite, xenotime, ilmenite and zircon were collected from ‘amang’ factory located in famous city of mining, Ipoh and analyzed using EDXRF.

Advantages of Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor in comparison with Light Water Reactor

Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is an innovative design for the thermal breeder reactor that has important potential benefits over the traditional reactor design. LFTR is fluoride based liquid fuel, that use the thorium dissolved in salt mixture of lithium fluoride and beryllium fluoride. Therefore, LFTR technology is fundamentally different from the solid fuel technology currently in use. Although the traditional nuclear reactor technology has been proven, it has perceptual problems with safety and nuclear waste products. The aim of this paper is to discuss the potential advantages of LFTR in three aspects such as safety, fuel efficiency and nuclear waste as an alternative energy generator in the future. Comparisons between LFTR and Light Water Reactor (LWR), on general principles of fuel cycle, resource availability, radiotoxicity and nuclear weapon proliferation shall be elaborated.

Thorium: Issues and prospects in Malaysia

In Malaysia, thorium exists in minerals and rare earth elements production residue. The average range of thorium content in Malaysian monazite and xenotime minerals was found about 70,000 and 15,000 ppm respectively. About 2,636 tonnes of Malaysian monazite was produced for a period of 5 years (2006-2010) and based on the above data, it can be estimated that Malaysian monazite contains about 184.5 tonnes of thorium. Although thorium can become a major radiological problem to our environment, but with the significant deposit of thorium in Malaysian monazite, it has a prospect as a future alternative fuel in nuclear technology. This paper will discuss the thorium issues in Malaysia especially its long term radiological risks to public health and environment at storage and disposal stages, the prospect of exploring and producing high purity thorium from our rare earth elements minerals for future thorium based reactor. This paper also highlights the holistic approach in thorium recovery from Malaysian rare earth element production residue to reduce its radioactivity and extraction of thorium and rare earth elements from the minerals with minimum radiological impact to health and environment.

Thorium, uranium and rare earth elements content in lanthanide concentrate (LC) and water leach purification (WLP) residue of Lynas advanced materials plant (LAMP)

Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) has been licensed to produce the rare earths elements since early 2013 in Malaysia. LAMP processes lanthanide concentrate (LC) to extract rare earth elements and subsequently produce large volumes of water leach purification (WLP) residue containing naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). This residue has been rising up the environmental issue because it was suspected to accumulate thorium with significant activity concentration and has been classified as radioactive residue. The aim of this study is to determine Th-232, U-238 and rare earth elements in lanthanide concentrate (LC) and water leach purification (WLP) residue collected from LAMP and to evaluate the potential radiological impacts of the WLP residue on the environment. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis and γ-spectrometry were used for determination of Th, U and rare earth elements concentrations. The results of this study found that the concentration of Th in LC was 1289.7 ± 129 ppm (5274.9...