Interaction between China’s atomic energy breakthrough and rare earth R&D （1955–1987）

The interaction between China’s atomic bomb project and rare earth R&D has directly ensured the breakthrough of nuclear fuel and other related scientific research tasks, meanwhile, it has significantly forced to achieve preeminence in rare earth separation. The impact is profound yet rarely investigated. This study investigates the interaction and its impact through a wealth of detailed primary historical materials. After China launched the atomic bomb project, the tasks of the 1956 “Twelve-Year Science and Technology Plan” promoted the institutionalization of rare earth chemistry. Since the late 1950s, the research forces led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) achieved a pivotal breakthrough in separating rare earths by ion exchange method and initiated research on solvent extraction method. Such achievements were not only critical for the technical route for “uranium-plutonium separation” of nuclear fuel, but also laid a robust foundation for the basic research and application of rare earth. The mutual promotion between the development of China’s atomic bomb project and the rare earth R&D truly represents a two-way drive between the country’s significant needs and the forefront of global science and technology, and the historical experience contained within still holds practical significance.