[Rockhounds] Uranium on the Moon!

[Rik Dillen]

Hi Glenn (at al.),

(no comment on posting the link as such - it is interesting to see how
newspapers "translate" scientific stuff into popularised stories)

But some comments on the story as such... This newspaper-story is IMHO VERY
speculative, hypothetic and not objective.
1.	They don't mention any trace of the actual concentration/quantity
found. Also drinking water, and even your own body contains uranium (be it
only about 10-30 ppq = parts per quadrillion). Gamma-ray spectrometry is a
very sensitive technique. The fact the something (like moon dust) contains
uranium is no news, as everything contains (some) uranium
2.	Drawing the conclusion that one can build a nuclear power plant
based on those traces of uranium is very exaggerated. It's like drawing the
conclusion that we can recover gold from sea-water on an industrial scale
(which BTW in theory is not impossible - but never economically and
practically realisable)
3.	Planning locations based on the fact that traces of uranium have
been detected is very premature at the least. It will be far more efficient
to take along a few kg of enriched uranium in their backpack  :>)
4.	I'm not sure what the transport cost from the moon to the earth
would be, but it seems to me that at least at the actual price of U3O8
(uranium-oxide) of 52 $/lb (or about 80 euro/kg) it will take some tens of
years (of not centuries) before bringing uranium to earth on an economical
basis could be profitable.
5.	And to recover uranium from that soil plenty of water would be
needed... (or other futuristic new procedures).

This article has obviously been written by a journalist who did not make her
homework :>)
Thanks anyway, Glenn, for sharing the link... I enjoyed reading it. Really
:>))

Greetings, 

Rik DILLEN 
E-mail rik.dillen at skynet.be 
Homepage : http://users.skynet.be/rik.dillen 

MINERANT 2009
9-10/5/2009
Antwerp Expo - Antwerpen - Belgium
www.minerant.org


-----Original Message-----
From: rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com
[mailto:rockhounds-bounces at lists.drizzle.com] On Behalf Of Glenn Wimpee
Sent: donderdag 2 juli 2009 21:22
To: rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com
Subject: [Rockhounds] Uranium on the Moon!

Check out this link:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529839,00.html
Not only could this lead to "Moon Mining" but also the possibility of
storing nuclear waste off the earth is now a real possibility.
The can of worms is open...

Glenn  Wimpee