Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024 - 8

FEATURE ARTICLE
Magellan Project for Magnet Recycling & Production in Europe Begins, Led by Nuclear Fuel
Company Orano
Orano is a world expert in nuclear
fuel processing and recycling.
We also ensure excellence right
across the fuel cycle and all services
activities to contribute to the
production of low-carbon footprint
electricity.
Running from January 2024 to December 2026, Magellan Project
aims to revolutionize the way Europe recycles and manufactures
permanent magnets. With co-funding from the European Union
and a total budget of €7.5M, the project is bringing together a cluster
of 15 companies and organizations to pool their capabilities
in magnet technology toward the purpose of building a stronger
domestic supply chain that can help shape the green transition
across the continent, particularly for electric vehicles and wind
turbines.
Aligned with the Group's commitment
to " develop know-how in the
transformation and control of nuclear
materials for the climate, for
a healthy and resource-efficient
world, now and tomorrow, today " ,
Orano is opening up to new activities
in connexion to its areas of
expertise and key technical competences:
*
apy
*
Benoit Richebe of Orano
Group
Alternative treatments for cancer via targeted alpha therProduction
of critical materials (cathode materials and
precursors of cathode materials) and recycling of strategic materials
from electric vehicle batteries for valorizing them in new batteries
components Stable isotope production facility based in our
Tricastin plant
*
the nuclear wastes' volumes
*
Molten salt reactors (GenIV type of reactor) for reducing
The " Rare Earth elements and magnets recycling " (REE
and PM -permanent magnets- project) falls into this category of
innovative projects, leveraging our technical competences in powder
metallurgy and processes' industrialization.
Led by French nuclear fuel company Orano Group, key partners in
the consortium are from academia, research and industry in eight
countries. Participating also in France's Magnolia Project which
seeks to bring magnet manufacturing back to that country, Orano
is emerging as a potential future stalwart in the magnetics industry
as it seeks to apply its considerable resources to new areas of
activity such as recycling and processing magnetic materials.
Launched in 2022, the Magnolia project brings together industrial
and institutional partners including Orano, automotive supplier
Valeo, waste management company Paprec, recycler Daimantel
France, and the energy R&D institute CEA-Liten, aiming to structure
in France a sovereign, competitive, and cutting-edge sector
for producing sintered permanent magnets.
Orano is serving as project lead for the Magellan project. With
more than 17,000 employees worldwide, the group has know-how
in powder metallurgy, industrial production with complex powder
in inert atmosphere, process industrialization and management of
complex industrial sites. The effort is part of the group's strategic
objective to apply its capabilities to new areas of activity.
Benoit Richebe, Project Director for Rare Earths/Magnets at
Orano, provided these insights in an interview with Magnetics
Magazine:
Q. What are Orano Group's current activities and future plans
related to magnets?
8 Magnetics Business & Technology * July/August 2024
Permanent magnets are critical components for many rising markets
in the near future, including among others: Electric vehicles
and wind turbines. The forecast for these two sectors shows a
strong growth accompanied by a significant job creation by 2050,
and with a strong contribution to attain the carbon neutrality objectives
taken by the French Government and the European Union.
Among the different types of permanent magnets, NeodymiumIron-Boron
(Nd-Fe-B) sintered magnets have the highest magnetic
energy density at room temperature: they make it possible
to design more compact, lighter and more efficient electric motors
and devices. In terms of value, they represent a high share of the
permanent magnet market, and permanent magnet volumes are
expected to double in the decade, generating strong price pressures.
However,
high-performance permanent magnets systematically
incorporate rare earths metals. About 80%-90% of these metals
are currently produced in China (with variations by segment of the
value chain), which:
*
ements and represents the largest mining operations,
*
China holds the world's largest reserve of rare earths eland
masters the entire value chain up to the finished
product.
A quasi-monopoly that places France and Europe in a situation
of high dependence, and constitutes a strategic risk for both the
economy and the energy transition.
The ambition of the REE and PM project is to structure on French
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Magnetics Business & Technology - July/August 2024

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