Uranium supply potential from phosphate rocks for Argentina's nuclear power fleet

Abstract

Argentina´s nuclear reactor fleet provides about 10% of the country´s electricity, and it is foreseen to increase nuclear power production in the future. Although most Argentinians accept nuclear power generation, public opinion is not in favor of uranium mining and all uranium needs are presently met by uranium imports at costs above international market prices (both spot and long-term contracts). Argentina also imports considerable amounts of phosphate rock and phosphate fertilizer to supply its agricultural industry. It is well-known that phosphate rocks and phosphate fertilizers can contain elevated amounts of associated uranium that is dissipated on agricultural soils if it is not recovered during fertilizer production. In this work, we estimate the amount of uranium that can be recovered from imported phosphate rock, determine the amount of uranium that could theoretically be recovered from all phosphate fertilizers used in Argentina and discuss potential uranium recovery from identified domestic phosphate rock resources.