A mildly radioactive metal about three times more abundant in the earth's crust than uranium, long studied as an alternative nuclear fuel. Thorium is fertile rather than fissile, so it must be bred into a usable fuel inside a reactor, and with uranium cheap and established there has been little commercial incentive to make the change, though India has made thorium a major goal of its nuclear programme and molten salt reactor designs are often proposed around it.
Facts
Source ClassProspective nuclear fuel 1 First Commercial YearThe Peach Bottom High Temperature Reactor in the United States (1967 to 1974) was the first demonstration reactor to run on thorium fuel; thorium has not reached full commercial deployment as a reactor fuel. Connections
Associated With
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
Source World Nuclear Association Information Library
World Nuclear Association publishes an information paper on thorium as a fertile nuclear fuel bred to uranium-233.
Sources
1. World Nuclear Association Information Library
World Nuclear AssociationInformation Library, Thorium, Nature and sources of thorium
It is found in small amounts in most rocks and soils, where it is about three times more abundant than uranium.
Information Library, Thorium, Thorium as a nuclear fuel
The 40 MWe Peach Bottom HTR in the USA was a demonstration thorium-fuelled reactor that ran from 1967-74.
Associated With: Nuclear Power, Information Library, Thorium, Developing a thorium-based fuel cycle
Uranium is abundant and cheap and forms only a small part of the cost of nuclear electricity generation, so there are no real incentives for investment in a new fuel type
Associated With: Uranium, Current and Future Generation, Thorium
Also, uranium is abundant and cheap and forms only a small part of the cost of nuclear electricity generation, so there are no real incentives for investment in a new fuel type.
View the Source Thorium (Wikipedia)
In Group: Prospective Nuclear Energy, LeadQuote, In Group: Prospective Nuclear Energy, Lead
Thorium is a chemical element; it has symbol Th and atomic number 90.
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