Caremag Builds France's Heavy Rare Earth Refinery-but Where Do the Radionuclides Go?

Highlights

• Caremag secured €216M to build France's Lacq refinery targeting 600 tonnes/year of Dy/Tb oxides, but its patented radionuclide removal process raises questions about where radioactive material ultimately reports.
• Brazilian Rare Earths plans to recover 97% of uranium as ADU for the nuclear fuel cycle and isolate thorium at its Camaçari refinery, offering a contrasting model that accounts for radiological streams by design.
• France's La Rochelle site holds over 10,000 m³ of thorium-bearing residue, demonstrating that rare earth refineries can leave multigenerational radionuclide liabilities long after operations cease.
• REEx urges investors to demand a full radionuclide mass-and-activity balance covering feed assays, Bq/g levels, destination streams, waste classifications, and lifecycle costs—not just REE output projections.
• A complete Western HREE supply chain requires not only separation chemistry but licensed long-term management of all radioactive coproducts, residues, and conditioned waste streams.