On the evening of December 5th,2023, Ding Dexin, who had just returned to University of South China after reporting on the progress of his scientific research project in Beijing, immediately plunged into the laboratory to collaborate with his students on a set of experimental data.
Ding Dexin is 65 years old this year and is a pioneer in China's uranium mining and metallurgy discipline. He has always kept in mind the original aspiration and mission of educating people for the Party and the country, and has been working at the forefront of teaching and research in uranium mining and metallurgy. He is hailed as the guardian of the "food" security of China's nuclear industry and the "pioneering ox" of the uranium mining and metallurgy discipline. Recently, Ding Dexin was awarded the honorary title of "New Era New Lei Feng" in Hunan Province.
Establish a complete talent cultivation system for uranium mining and metallurgy——
The path of uranium mining and metallurgy is becoming increasingly broad.
The nuclear industry is an important cornerstone of national security, and the "grain" of the nuclear industry is natural uranium.
In 1986, Ding Dexin came to Hengyang Institute of Technology (one of the predecessors of University of South China) from Changsha Mining Research Institute, and resolutely chose the "wasteland" of uranium mining and metallurgy to rebuild the uranium mining and metallurgy major.
There was once doubt about the prospects of the uranium mining and metallurgy major. Ding Dexin recalled: "In the 1990s, the scale of China's nuclear industry gradually shrank, and nuclear-related majors in universities纷纷转向or stopped enrolling students, leading to a downturn in the cultivation of nuclear professionals."
At the crossroads of the era, Ding Dexin firmly made his choice: "Even if this major is discontinued, uranium must never be in short supply at any time, and the number of talents in uranium mining and metallurgy must never be reduced."
In 1990, Ding Dexin went to the University of New South Wales in Australia to study world - advanced uranium mining technology. Two years later, he refused the high - paying scholarship and the retention of the advanced team, and resolutely returned to China.
After returning from his studies abroad, he, through in-depth research, is determined to break the deadlock in China's domestic conventional uranium mining and metallurgy processes, which are characterized by high energy consumption and severe environmental impact.
But he felt that this was still not enough. To ensure the safety of the "grain" of the nuclear industry, the key is to cultivate talents and ensure that the uranium mining and metallurgy industry has a successor.
Since then, Ding Dexin has carried out each item in detail, such as formulating talent cultivation programs, compiling textbooks, building teaching staff, constructing laboratories, applying for master's degree authorization, and applying for doctoral degree authorization, by referring to the advanced concepts of international higher education.
After 25 years of arduous efforts, in 2010, Ding Dexin led the construction of China's only complete talent cultivation system for uranium mining and metallurgy, and the path of uranium mining and metallurgy has become increasingly broad.
Building a high-level innovative team——
Won more than 60 awards such as national and provincial awards and national invention patents
In long-term scientific research, Ding Dexin has always adhered to a principle: what the country needs, he will research.
China has large reserves of uranium ore, but they have low grades and are mostly medium and small-sized deposits. How to achieve efficient and green development of low-grade uranium deposits is the key to ensuring the "food" security of the nuclear industry.
Around this major issue, Ding Dexin led his team to conduct in-depth research on the response characteristics of granite-type and volcanic rock-type uranium deposits, which account for the largest proportion of reserves, to continuous microwave and pulsed microwave. They developed a new power supply mode and a pulsed magnetron drive power supply, and researched and developed the "continuous microwave forced dissociation - heap leaching new process" and the "pulsed microwave forced dissociation - conventional agitation leaching new process".
In addition, to remediate the environment contaminated by radioactivity, Ding Dexin was the first to propose the bioremediation technology for radioactively contaminated environments, and established key discipline laboratories for national defense and technological innovation teams to tackle key technologies. In 2013, Ding Dexin led the research and development of the second - generation microwave forced dissociation technology. This technology can not only act on refractory uranium minerals but also on other metal minerals. Moreover, the "high - efficiency spraying system" and "high - throughput ion exchange technology" developed by his team have been widely used in the industry.
In 2016, in response to the national science and technology innovation strategy of "aiming for world - class standards and being brave in innovation and surpassing", Ding Dexin put forward: aim for world - class standards, raise new questions; adopt new ideas to solve new problems.
"Every time in the research group meeting, we are amazed by Professor Ding's attention to and understanding of the research frontiers." Zhang Hui, a PhD student in Professor Ding Dexin's research group, introduced that during the weekly group meetings, Professor Ding would share the latest progress and development trends of relevant research topics he had collected. The same applies to the postgraduate courses he teaches, where he adopts a Chinese-English bilingual teaching method to help students stay informed about cutting-edge developments.
Through long-term accumulation and innovative efforts, Ding Dexin and his team have achieved abundant scientific research results. They have successively presided over and completed more than 30 projects, including key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, key projects of basic scientific research for national defense, nuclear energy development projects, provincial and ministerial projects, and enterprise entrusted projects. They have won more than 60 honors such as the National Defense Science and Technology Award, Hunan Province Technology Invention Award, Hunan Province Science and Technology Progress Award, and national invention patents.
Cultivate a large number of scientific and technological innovation talents —
One-third of the middle and senior managers of uranium mining and metallurgy enterprises in China are his students.
In the corridor of the classroom, a man leaning to the right is staggering towards the classroom, with his left hand hanging down and his right hand swinging up and down; in class, he stands for half a day; in the mine, he, despite his post - operation weakness, struggles to walk down the 300 - meter inclined shaft, his face pale but he waves his hand to say it's okay... Ding Dexin's various figures leave an unforgettable impression on the students.
Ding Dexin said that what he feared most in his life was not being unable to stand up due to illness, but being unable to conduct scientific research or supervise students anymore.
In 1977, Ding Dexin, who had just been admitted to university, developed ankylosing spondylitis due to a waist injury. The doctor told him that he might be paralyzed in 10 years.
Ding Dexin, while adhering to treatment and exercise, often goes down the mine, conducts exploration, teaches at the podium, and does experiments despite his illness. He said, "I want to create more value in my limited life."
In 2008, Ding Dexin's condition worsened further. His entire body became stiff and painful, with his spine bending continuously. He had to undergo a bilateral hip replacement surgery. The operation lasted 8 hours, and two 10-centimeter-long femurs were removed. Although two analgesia pumps were installed, he was still sweating profusely from the pain but said nothing. Three days after the surgery, Ding Dexin placed a small stool by his bedside and began revising his papers and research reports.
In 2015, during his students doctoral dissertation defense, Ding Dexin suffered a sudden stroke. At 9 am, he was already sweating profusely and felt unwell, but he persevered for 11 hours to complete the final revisions of his doctoral dissertation, until his body couldn't move. As a result, he missed the optimal treatment window. The subsequent six months of rehabilitation were undoubtedly the most agonizing for Ding Dexin. The severe condition forced him to temporarily leave his beloved post.
"Continuously standing on the podium is my best exercise, and continuously generating new research ideas and achievements is my most effective recovery," Ding Dexin smiled. In the subsequent life-and-death struggles with the disease, he relied on extraordinary perseverance to return to the podium and research position he had been longing for again.
"Completely fissioning 1 kilogram of uranium-235 releases energy equivalent to burning 2,700 tons of high-quality coal. To ensure the safety of the 'grain' for China's nuclear industry, I am willing to burn myself like uranium, releasing energy to benefit society!" Ding Dexin told the reporter firmly.
Under Ding Dexin's influence, a large number of USC University students have been devoting themselves to uranium mining and and metallurgy industry, and USC has therefore provided a steady stream of talent support for China's uranium mining and metallurgy industry and nuclear industry. It is estimated that among the senior managers of China's uranium mining and metallurgy enterprises, one-third graduated from University of South China and are all students of Ding Dexin.
