Both Molybdenum and Uranium Vital for Nuclear Reactors

Molybdenum plays a more vital role in the global				Japan, Russia, South Korea and Japan (and
nuclear renaissance than you might suspect.				possibly the United States).
Without the silvery white metal, the world's				Existing reactors along coastal areas in Asian
energy infrastructure would somewhat suffer.				countries presently breaks down as follows: Japan
But, nuclear power plants would be set back at				(57), South Korea (26), China and Taiwan (19) and
least two decades. The new high performance				India (11). Because these are the most prone to
stainless steels (HPSS) contain as much as 7.5				seawater or brackish corrosion, they are also the
percent molybdenum and can add more than				likely candidates for upgrading existing condenser
three times the life to the world's aging nuclear				tubing to high alloy stainless steel. And their new
fleet condenser tubes.				reactors are likely going to be constructed along
During the early construction of nuclear power				their coasts, requiring the super austenitic grades.
plants, steam condensers relied upon copper base				As an aside, of the previously mentioned 190
alloys - brass and copper nickel - for heat transfer				nuclear power plants which had replaced their
capabilities. These alloys have high coefficients of				condensers with HPSS, 45 percent used fresh
thermal conductivity required in steam generation				water as coolant. Those plants chose the high
to power nuclear reactor turbines. But				alloy steel as a 'fail-safe' measure to prevent
copper-alloyed tubes were being replaced too				interrupted service or a potential reactor incident.
quickly - with an average life of eight years -				The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of
because of sulphide pitting. Hardest hit were those				the planet's population will be living with water
reactors using polluted seawater to cool their				stress by 2025. Global freshwater scarcity may
reactors.				demand the use of brackish or seawater as
Over the past 30 years ago, nuclear utilities slowly				nuclear reactor coolant. To prevent the
began turning to the super austenitic stainless				accompanying corrosion, the higher-percentage
steels as one way to make their nuclear reactors				molybdenum alloy, specifically the 654
last longer. The addition of molybdenum, initially				SMOÃ‚(R), could emerge as the condenser
starting with percentage of less than four				tubing material of choice. Either the 254
percent, helped increase the thermal conductivity				SMOÃ‚(R) or the 654 would be utilized in
lacking in nickel, iron or steel. At nuclear stations				desalination plants required to overcome water
which replaced the copper alloys with HPSS				shortages in the hardest hit areas: North Africa,
condenser tubes, 57 percent rated the thermal				the Middle East and West Asia.
performance good and all but one rated it normal.				Typically, nuclear power plant condenser tubing
Molybdenum had helped overcome the thermal				requires approximately 520,000 feet of stainless
hurdle.				steel. According to the International Molybdenum
A large number of the 190 nuclear reactors,				Association (IMOA), larger reactors could utilize up
which now utilize HPSS condenser tubes, reported				to one million feet of stainless steel. With the
an average life in excess of 18 years. The longest				higher molybdenum grades found in the super
stainless steel condenser installation has remained				alloys, new nuclear reactors could require tens of
in service more than 26 years, according to a				thousands of metric tons of molybdenum.
study done several years ago. According to a				By comparison, nuclear waste containers
report published in 2000, more than 100 million				proposed for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste
feet of super-alloy stainless steel tubes have				repository were forecast to consume about
replaced the older, copper-alloy tubing.				15,000 metric tons of moly. While this project
Condensers are large heat exchangers used in				may or may not proceed as planned to the
nuclear power plants. Condensers have thousands				construction phase, the Nuclear Energy Institute
of tubes horizontally mounted to condense and				(NEI) has proposed regionalized storage of spent
recover the steam passing through turbines. Each				fuel.
low-pressure turbine generally has a condenser,				Should comparably designed storage canisters be
which also maintains a vacuum to optimize the				utilized to 'temporarily' contain the nuclear waste,
turbine's efficiency.				it is likely molybdenum will play a key role.
Water fouling deposits were cited as a major				According to the U.S. Government's Energy
problem at many reactors, especially with				Citation Database, as published by the
condenser tubes where seawater or high-chloride				Department of Energy's Office of Scientific and
brackish water was the coolant. Pitting corrosion,				Technical Information, "Alloys with combined
tube sheet crevice corrosion and galvanic				chromium plus molybdenum contents greater than
corrosion put the tubes at risk for leakage.				30 percent were the most resistant to general
Plugging, mud, or detritus accumulating in				and local attack." This was the conclusion reached
condenser tubes reduce a power plant's efficiency.				after corrosion scouring tests were performed on
Utilities use cleaning systems with small, abrasive				stainless steel and nickel-based alloys to immobilize
sponge-like balls to keep the tubes clean and test				high-level, radioactive waste.
for tube defectives with probing devices. Tube				Another aspect where high-percentage
thinning and corrosion create the opportunity for				molybdenum stainless steel would double up is
tube leakage. This can not be tolerated because				with the expansion of nuclear desalination plants. In
chemicals such as sodium and chlorides find their				the past, and in our publication, "Investing in the
way into the reactor vessel or steam generator.				Great Uranium Bull Market," we have discussed
Upgrading the steam condenser tubing to stainless				the rise of nuclear desalination across those
steel also plays a vital role in the 'power uprate'				coastal areas, requiring far more freshwater than
program utilities have used to increase generating				can possibly be transported through other means.
capacity for existing reactors as we recently				The World Nuclear Association (WNA) has
discussed. The more advanced uprate program				reported of numerous such desalination projects
could add up to 20-percent capacity to existing				in progress.
U.S. nuclear reactors.				Will The Energy Bull Have Sufficient Moly?
Different Molybdenum Alloys				From nearly every energy project - oil, gas, coal
There are several HPSS manufacturers for				and nuclear, and for water, molybdenum demand
nuclear reactor condensers. The most prominent				will continue increasing. Super austenitic grades
in the nuclear sector include Pennsylvania-based				demand a higher moly content to combat
ATI Allegheny Ludlum and Finland's Outokumpu.				corrosion and provide reliability of service. Of
Each offers austenitic steels with chromium and				course, there will be substitution in the face of
nickel composition of between 20 and 25 percent				future supply shortfalls. In some instances, there
for each alloy and a range of 6.2 to 7.5 percent				are reports the Russians have substituted
molybdenum.				vanadium for molybdenum in some of their oil and
In a paper presented by Jan Olsson of Avesta				gas pipelines to conserve on moly consumption.
Sheffield (before the company was acquired by				ATI Allegheny Ludlum has argued for the
Outokumpu), he highlighted the results of tests				substitution of two-percent manganese for every
performed on the new super-austenitic stainless				percent of nickel, but in the lower grade austenitic
steel, 654 SMOÃ‚(R). Metals comprising this				groups which do not demand the corrosion
brand include 25-percent chromium, 22-percent				resistance of energy projects.
nickel and 7.5-percent molybdenum. To increase				While reviewing the anticipated new projects from
pitting resistance, the manufacturers added up to				the molybdenum mining sector, we foresee the
0.5-percent nitrogen and three-percent				high probability of supply inadequacy. Aside from
manganese (for make the nitrogen more soluble).				China Moly's Sandaozhuang molybdenum mine,
As with all pioneering developments - and				which the company hopes could produce 28,000
remember that R & D breakthroughs have taken				tonnes of molybdenum concentrate this year and
place over a two-decade-plus period,				perhaps grow by another 17 percent the following
manufacturers have re-designed their metallurgical				year, there is a paucity of new molybdenum
composition to find the most encouraging				projects coming fully online before 2009.
percentages of nickel, chromium, molybdenum				Based upon China's voracious appetite for
and nitrogen. The earlier stainless steels relied on				molybdenum - one research firm estimated
higher nickel content and lesser percentages of				compounded annual growth rate over the
chromium and molybdenum.				previous five years at 17 percent, whatever
At first, conventional austenitic grades, such as				excess moly production comes from China Moly's
316L, or high chromium-ferritic grades, were				mining efforts could very well be domestically
utilized. Pitting struck down widespread use of the				consumed.
316L series and was replaced by higher alloy				Future North American molybdenum producers
steels. For example, others, such as the 254				may need to ramp up their projects to meet the
SMOÃ‚(R) stainless steel, began				growing demand. During 2006, demand grew
aggressively replacing the copper alloy tubes and				above the historical norm of four percent; most
in some cases the 316L series. The 254 is				of the consumption came from China. This is
comprised of 20-percent chromium, 18-percent				unlikely to stagnate or decrease, and could
nickel, 6.2-percent molybdenum and 0.20-percent				interfere with North American and European
nitrogen. It has also offered a high level of				consumption of molybdenum.
corrosion resistance at desalination plants without				Only one company is scheduled to commence
becoming cost-prohibitive.				molybdenum mining in 2007, Roca Mines. Because
The most significant breakthrough came after				the company is limited to a small-mining permit,
various stainless steels were tested at				anticipated production could not exceed three
Scandinavian coastal reactors. In the Avesta				million pounds. By late 2008, or early 2009,
paper, the failures of each lesser austenitic grade				Adanac Molybdenum hopes to commence its
were checked off. Significant deficiencies included				start-up efforts to reach eight-figure moly
insufficient stress corrosion cracking resistance				production. Later, Blue Pearl Mining hopes to
and resistance to natural seawater. Even titanium				commence high-grade molybdenum mining at the
tubing was used as an interim measure because it				Davidson deposit in British Columbia. Around this
increased total heat transfer by 17 percent, but				time, the Climax molybdenum mine could re-open
the metal failed to stand up to high velocity				and begin production in Colorado. Moly Mines hopes
steam and suffered 'water droplet erosion.'				to begin production at the company's Spinifex
According to the study, "The only alloy fully				project. Possibly, before the decade ends, Idaho
resistant to all test conditions was 654				General might commence operations in Nevada.
SMOÃ‚(R)." The results at nuclear power				Perhaps before those 48 nuclear reactors come
plants in Finland and Sweden, along the Baltic Sea,				online, US Energy's Mt. Emmons deposit may be
were astonishing! Four important conclusions about				mined in Colorado.
this super alloy were reached after the testing.				Many of these projects are subject to
Ã‚Â· Its corrosion resistance could cope				environmental permitting and/or financing, putting
with the hostile environments existing inside				any material amount of forecasted supply in
condenser tubes of desalination plants and power				jeopardy. And this comes at a time when some
plants.				experts believe byproduct molybdenum
Ã‚Â· Its corrosion resistance was good				production at copper mines could be constrained.
enough to cop with many other hostile brine and				There are many conditional requirements which
seawater environments.				do not necessarily guarantee a reliable supply
Ã‚Â· Its erosion resistance was				from the new breed of primary moly producers.
advantageous where it was exposed to high				We have witnessed comparable obstacles in the
velocity streams.				uranium sector, which has since been
Ã‚Â· There was no concern about its				accompanied by a hyperbolic price rally in this
heat transfer characteristics.				metal.
Nuclear Consumption of Molybdenum				There could come a point in the molybdenum
About 48 nuclear reactors are reportedly				sector where the silvery white metal could mimic
scheduled for construction by 2013. It may be				such a breakout scenario. Nearly three years ago,
possible that up to 100 could be constructed by				featured a forecast of US$100/pound uranium. No
2020, depending upon political and financial climates.				one believed that prediction at the time. On
The largest number proceeding through the				Friday, TradeTech announced a spot price of
proposed, planned or construction phases will be				US$113/pound.
located along coastal areas to service the most				COPYRIGHTÃ‚Â© 2007 by
populated areas. The greatest numbers of new				StockInterview, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
constructions are expected from China, India,				James Finch contributes to and other publications.

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Both Molybdenum and Uranium Vital for Nuclear Reactors