The White House, February 2025. Andrew McCulough at Shuttlestock
Metals in Nuclear: Part I
Dear Members,
As I wrote towards the end of last year, with Donald Trump once again in the driving seat, it would be interesting to see if there will be any renewed interest in “critical minerals”.
If the new president’s interest in Greenland and Ukraine is anything to go by, then it seems so. However, at this stage so early in the proceedings, I think it’s somewhat precipitous to start speculating about how this would evolve. Let’s wait until President Trump has finished signing all his “kick-off” Executive Orders. If you remember, many of his actions around “Critical Mineral Resources” during his last administration, even quite far through it, were the result of Executive Orders. Rest assured, I shall revisit the subject, and start to update you (as much as I can).
In the meantime, I wanted to take a preliminary look at some “matters nuclear”. As I am sure you are aware, there was quite of flurry around, and increased interest in, nuclear power generation at the end of last year, especially in the final quarter. Money poured into nuclear- and uranium related ETFs. While, personally, I remain cautious about the speed with which its future will unfold, I do remain confident that nuclear will be the way to go.
To kick off with, uranium and plutonium aside, I should to review some of the major metals the established nuclear energy industry uses. (At some later stage, I may take a quick look at the nascent “fusion” industry, but for the moment I’ll stick with traditional “fission”.)
It’s probably useful, first, to break down nuclear reactors into three different categories:
- Water Reactors
Pressurized Water (“PWR”)
Boiling Water (“BWR”)
- Fast Neutron Reactors (“FNR”)
- Molten Salt Reactors (“MSR”)
All such nuclear reactors, however, work on the same basic principle: nuclear fission is used to create heat; this heat is transferred to a coolant that circulates through the nuclear reactor’s core; the hot coolant boils water to create steam; the steam powers a turbine; and the turbine generates electricity.
So, apart from the uranium and plutonium used in a reactor’s fuel, in addition to its fuel rods, various metals will be used not only in its structural materials, but they may also be found in both its coolant and neutron moderator.
And while Zircaloy (a group of different alloys of zirconium) is most commonly used, there are other zirconium alloys, for example, those containing niobium (used in some more modern reactors).
When it comes to reactors’ control rods, a number of different metals can be used in different combinations, depending upon the type of reactor. These can range from beryllium, boron (yes, I know, a metalloid) and hafnium, to alloys containing silver, indium and cadmium (typically in a ratio of silver – 85%, indium – 15% and cadmium – 5%).
And, when it comes to the coolants, even further different metals can be found. Again, which and the amounts used differ depending upon the type of reactor.
Having, I hope, whetted your appetite a wee bit, in the next issue, I shall look further at the different types of nuclear reactor, the different metals they use and why they are used. And, perhaps, speculate a little about the future, not least about the type(s) of reactors we may see more of and what this means in terms of metals usage.
In the meantime, though, from a Cleveland Heights a little warmer than when I started this missive, I wish you farewell until next month.
I remain, as always
Yours
Tom
PS Before the winter holidays, I did my whistle-stop 10-day trip around the world. I moderated a panel on disability-inclusive employment at a Zero Project conference in Singapore and (having picked up some really nasty bug on the flight from there to Germany), “signed off” (feeling frightful) with my colleagues in Frankfurt, Amsterdam and New York.
I am, now, officially, and very happily retired from my former “day” job at Van Eck Associates. And thoroughly enjoying it!
©2025 Tom Butcher
