@article{oai:repo.qst.go.jp:00080767,
 author = {Kim, Jaehwan and Nakano, Suguru and Nakamichi, Masaru and Kim, Jaehwan and Suguru, Nakano and Masaru, Nakamichi},
 journal = {Journal of Nuclear Materials},
 month = {Dec},
 note = {A demonstration (DEMO) fusion reactor will require a huge amount of beryllium (Be) with approximately 490 tons. Since the total production of Be in the world, for now, is approximately 300 tons per year, it is anticipated that the demand is dramatically increased as the early realization of the fusion reactor proceeds. The presence of many Be mines, as well as information on each Be reserve, has already been confirmed with surveys. Since a conventional Be refinement process is considerably complicated including a production process for an intermediate product, Be(OH)2, high-temperature treatments, and handling of toxic powdery states, however, Be raw materials are costly. To provide a steady supply of Be for DEMO, in parallel with the development of mines, a novel Be refinement technique using an economical and safe process is imperative. According to these requirements, a novel and advanced refinement process of Be metal from ores was suggested by applying microwave melting at low temperatures through wet processing.

It was obvious as a result of dissolubility tests that bertrandite and beryl ores were completely dissolved by using a process with acid solutions and microwave heating after treatment with base solutions and microwave heating. Further, the process can be utilized to produce not only intermediate products, such as beryllium hydroxide (Be(OH)2) and beryllium oxide (BeO) but also pure beryllium metal. Moreover, this process has great advantages for extracting uranium which is one of critical issues and oxide impurities for reuse.},
 title = {A novel method to stably secure beryllium resources for fusion blankets},
 volume = {542},
 year = {2020}
}