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USES OF THE RARE EARTH ELEMENT EUROPIUM
In 2005 or 2006, I was offered a large amount of europium metal with a nominal value of about 300,000 euros, presumably because of my personal scientific interest in rare earth elements. According to a certifcate I received a copy of, the material was in a safe in Switzerland at the time.
I reported it to the police and wrote a short article about the uses and theft of europium. Since then, the global rare earth situation has changed as you likely know (China), so it may be easier today to find interested parties to sell stolen europium to.
Wrapped europium metal in various stages of oxidation:
Apparently, this europium oxide powder had been acquired in the past for intended use in the manufacture of
control rods for nuclear reactions.
A few years after this theft, someone contacted me and announced he had a large quantity of europium for sale.
When I searched the web, I found sites that
compare rare earth elements (REEs) to precious metals like gold and platinum. Batches of rare earths were offered on
various metal auction sites. Europium (Eu) is one of those rare earth elements.
Rare earth elements are indeed very expensive, partly because it is very expensive to extract and
concentrate them from their ores. Of all the rare earth elements, europium is reported to be the most expensive.
The thieves might therefore have seen the europium oxide as an investment opportunity, but shares, gold and diamonds –
or even a smart piece of real estate - would probably be a lot easier to sell. Unlike with gold and platinum
(precious metals), you cannot create jewelry from europium and the average citizen has no use for it. Europium oxide
cannot be used to make explosives or nuclear devices either. So what is europium? What is it good for?
Europium is a metal as soft as lead. It can have the divalent
oxidation state (mainly in deep rocks) but in the p,T and redox conditions of the earth's surface,
it strongly prefers to be trivalent.
That makes the metal highly reactive and, as a result, toxic, corrosive, irritant and particularly flammable. It readily
reacts with oxygen and water if not protected and handled carefully (stored under oil, for instance, and kept away
from heat).
The metal's oxide is therefore much more stable. Note: This does not mean that anyone who happens to have
europium metal in his possession should simply expose it to air.
Europium absorbs neutrons quite well, hence its use in control rods in, for example, uranium plants in
Russia and Ukraine.
One newer development focuses on the commercial application of this particular (spent) europium (Eu-152, 154 and 155)
as a much-needed gamma source for sterilization purposes (against microorganisms). That would take care of this
nuclear-waste storage problem as well.
Note that europium's naturally occurring isotopes - Eu-151 and 153 - are not radioactive. However, rare earth elements
and actinides often occur together in nature because of their chemical similarities. Actinides are radioactive.
Europium is a metal as soft as lead. It can have the divalent
oxidation state (mainly in deep rocks) but in the p,T and redox conditions of the earth's surface,
it strongly prefers to be trivalent.
