Gallium nds its greatest application in electronic circuitry, laser diodes, and light emitting diodes (LEDs) (Kelly and Matos, 2006; Matos, 2006). Photovoltaic cells that incorporate gallium arsenide are mostly used for generating electricity for satellites and space exploration. Although gallium arsenide is well suited to photovoltaic cells, its application for consumer use is greatly limited by the high cost of producing gallium arsenide crystals, a necessary component of the cell. Lowering the cost of production will likely be key to commericialization of the technology.
US Geological Survey,
Sources and Supplies of Commodities Used in Photovoltaic Cells, Page 5
http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1365/Circ1365.pdf
Domestic Production and Use: No domestic primary (low-grade, unrefined) gallium has been recovered since 1987. Globally, primary gallium is recovered as a byproduct of processing bauxite and zinc ores. One company in Utah recovered and refined high-purity gallium from imported low-grade primary gallium metal and new scrap. Imports of gallium were valued at about $9 million. Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) wafers used in integrated circuits (ICs) and optoelectronic devices accounted for approximately 75% of domestic gallium consumption. Production of trimethyl gallium and triethyl gallium, metalorganic sources of gallium used in the epitaxial layering process for the production of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), accounted for most of the remainder. About 57% of the gallium consumed was used in ICs. Optoelectronic devices, which include laser diodes, LEDs, photodetectors, and solar cells, accounted for nearly all of the remaining gallium consumption. Optoelectronic devices were used in aerospace applications, consumer goods, industrial equipment, medical equipment, and telecommunications equipment. Uses of ICs included defense applications, high-performance computers, and telecommunications equipment.
U.S. Geological Survey,
Mineral Commodity Summaries, January 2016, Page 64
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/gallium/mcs-2016-galli.pdf
Poor Nnadir, I have some really, really bad news for you regarding your effort to put lipstick on the nuclear pig by misrepresenting renewable energy.
They've just confirmed that cancers caused by ionizing radiation have a distinct genetic signature that is different from all other causes of cancer.
Abstract
Ionizing radiation is a potent carcinogen, inducing cancer through DNA damage. The signatures of mutations arising in human tissues following in vivo exposure to ionizing radiation have not been documented. Here, we searched for signatures of ionizing radiation in 12 radiation-associated second malignancies of different tumour types. Two signatures of somatic mutation characterize ionizing radiation exposure irrespective of tumour type. Compared with 319 radiation-naive tumours, radiation-associated tumours carry a median extra 201 deletions genome-wide, sized 1–100 base pairs often with microhomology at the junction. Unlike deletions of radiation-naive tumours, these show no variation in density across the genome or correlation with sequence context, replication timing or chromatin structure. Furthermore, we observe a significant increase in balanced inversions in radiation-associated tumours. Both small deletions and inversions generate driver mutations. Thus, ionizing radiation generates distinctive mutational signatures that explain its carcinogenic potential.
Mutational signatures of ionizing radiation in second malignancies
Sam Behjati, Gunes GundemPeter J. Campbell
Nature Communications 7, Article number: 12605 (2016)
doi:10.1038/ncomms12605
Open Access
http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12605 How long do you think it is going to take to start getting a handle on the real consequences of nuclear power now that they will no longer be able to hide behind the lack of proof regarding cause and effect?
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