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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 ...
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 ...
Occurrence of thorium. Thorium concentrations on the Moon, as mapped by Lunar Prospector. Thorium is found in small amounts in most rocks and soils. Soil commonly contains an average of around 6 parts per million (ppm) of thorium. [1] Thorium occurs in several minerals including thorite (ThSiO 4), thorianite (ThO 2 + UO 2) and monazite.
Thorium-232. ) is the main naturally occurring isotope of thorium, with a relative abundance of 99.98%. It has a half life of 14 billion years, which makes it the longest-lived isotope of thorium. It decays by alpha decay to radium-228; its decay chain terminates at stable lead-208. Thorium-232 is a fertile material; it can capture a neutron to ...
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.
The liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR; often pronounced lifter) is a type of molten salt reactor. LFTRs use the thorium fuel cycle with a fluoride -based molten (liquid) salt for fuel. In a typical design, the liquid is pumped between a critical core and an external heat exchanger where the heat is transferred to a nonradioactive secondary ...
Thorium-234. 234Th is an isotope of thorium whose nuclei contain 144 neutrons. 234 Th has a half-life of 24.1 days, and when it decays, it emits a beta particle, and in doing so, it transmutes into protactinium -234. 234 Th has a mass of 234.0436 atomic mass units, and it has a decay energy of about 270 keV.
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 ...