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A sample of thorium. Thorium-based nuclear power generation is fueled primarily by the nuclear fission of the isotope uranium-233 produced from the fertile element thorium.A thorium fuel cycle can offer several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle [Note 1] —including the much greater abundance of thorium found on Earth, superior physical and nuclear fuel properties, and reduced ...
Thorium Energy Alliance (TEA) is a non-governmental, non-profit 501 (c)3, educational organization based in the United States, which seeks to promote energy security of the world through the use of thorium as a fuel source. The potential for the use of thorium was studied extensively during the 1950s and 60s, [1] and now worldwide interest is ...
Thorium is a chemical element. It has the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is a weakly radioactive light silver metal which tarnishes olive gray when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high melting point. Thorium is an electropositive actinide whose chemistry is dominated by the ...
The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclear fuel cycle that uses an isotope of thorium, 232. Th. , as the fertile material. In the reactor, 232. Th. is transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233. U. which is the nuclear fuel. Unlike natural uranium, natural thorium contains only trace amounts of fissile material (such as 231.
Thorium resources are the estimated mineral reserves of thorium on Earth. Thorium is a future potential source of low-carbon energy. [1] Thorium has been demonstrated to perform as a nuclear fuel in several reactor designs. [2] [3] It is present with a higher abundance than uranium in the crust of the earth. Thorium resources have not been ...
It could use thorium as a fuel, which is more abundant than uranium. [1] The neutrons needed for sustaining the fission process would be provided by a particle accelerator producing neutrons by spallation or photo-neutron production. These neutrons activate the thorium, enabling fission without needing to make the reactor critical.
Nuclear meltdown. A simulated animation of a core melt in a light-water reactor after a loss-of-coolant accident. After reaching an extremely high temperature, the nuclear fuel and accompanying cladding liquefies and flows to the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel. Three of the reactors at Fukushima I overheated because the cooling systems ...
A pebble-bed power plant combines a gas-cooled core [5] and a novel fuel packaging. [6]The uranium, thorium or plutonium nuclear fuels are in the form of a ceramic (usually oxides or carbides) contained within spherical pebbles a little smaller than the size of a tennis ball and made of pyrolytic graphite, which acts as the primary neutron moderator.