Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Thorium

Thorium

(Updated 11 November 2011) 
  • Thorium is more abundant in nature than uranium. 
  • It is fertile rather than fissile, and can be used in conjunction with fissile material as nuclear fuel. 
  • Thorium fuels can breed fissile uranium-233. 
The use of thorium as a new primary energy source has been a tantalizing prospect for many years. Extracting its latent energy value in a cost-effective manner remains a challenge, and will require considerable R&D investment.

Nature and sources of thorium

No comments:

Post a Comment