Thorium. Medical search. Frequent questions

It has been suggested as a replacement for uranium as nuclear fuel in nuclear reactors, and several thorium reactors have been built. (wikipedia.org)
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY, Utilization of Thorium in Power Reactors, Technical Reports Series No. 52, IAEA, Vienna (1966). (iaea.org)
Thorium reactors are also safer, with the fuel contained in a low-pressure reactor vessel, which means smaller (sub-500MWe) reactors may be worth building. (theregister.com)
Six heavy-water thorium reactors are planned in India, which has the world's largest thorium deposits. (theregister.com)
Thorium is a radioactive element that is currently the best contender for replacing uranium as nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors. (americanelements.com)
Thorium fuels can breed fissile uranium-233 to be used in various kinds of nuclear reactors. (world-nuclear.org)
Molten salt reactors are well suited to thorium fuel, as normal fuel fabrication is avoided. (world-nuclear.org)
Topics: Dr. Kothari makes the case of using thorium molten salt reactors for power generation in the U.S. and globally. (thespaceshow.com)
Topics: Thorium energy and reactors, details, advantages and some of the politics involved in using thorium to solve our energy problems. (thespaceshow.com)
Second, the waste stream can be considerably smaller since unlike current reactors which often use only about 2 percent of the available fuel, thorium-fueled reactors with optimal designs could burn nearly all of the fuel. (scitizen.com)
Thorium fuels have been used in some commercial reactors with success. (scitizen.com)
Thorium "fuel" has been proposed as an alternative to uranium fuel in nuclear reactors. (ieer.org)
There are not "thorium reactors," but rather proposals to use thorium as a "fuel" in different types of reactors, including existing light-water reactors and various fast breeder reactor designs. (ieer.org)
Prof. Sergey Bedenko demonstrates a simulation model of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors with thorium fuel. (phys.org)
Scientists from the School of Nuclear Science & Engineering of Tomsk Polytechnic University are developing a technology for the creation of high-temperature, low-power reactors with thorium fuel. (phys.org)
Thermal energy generated at thorium reactors may be used in hydrogen industrial production and for desalinating water. (phys.org)
Thorium reactors are used in areas where there are no large water bodies and rivers, which are needed for classical reactors. (phys.org)
In thorium reactors, helium is applied, as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) or hydrogen, instead of water. (phys.org)
The mixture of thorium and weapons-grade plutonium is the fuel for the new kind of reactors. (phys.org)
When all weapons-grade plutonium is disposed of, it will be possible to use uranium-235 or uranium-233 in thorium reactors. (phys.org)
Notably, the plant is capable of operating at low capacity (from 60 MW), the core thorium reactors require a little fuel and the percentage of its burnup is higher than that at currently used reactors. (phys.org)
First, it efficiently disposes of one of the most dangerous radioactive fuels in thorium reactors, and second, it generates power and heat. (phys.org)
Thorium fuel can be used both in thorium reactors and widely spread VVER-1000 reactors. (phys.org)
In addition, water can be desalinated at thorium reactors. (phys.org)
I.V. Shamanin et al, Neutronic properties of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors with thorium fuel, Annals of Nuclear Energy (2017). (phys.org)
Though the plant has since been converted to a natural gas generating station, Fort Saint Vrain was one of the first thorium-powered reactors in the United States. (energyfromthorium.com)

The Molten Thorium Salt Reactor is a well studied breeder design. (halfbakery.com)
The LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) is a 4G reactor that uses liquid salt as both fuel and coolant. (theregister.com)
China uses the more general term TMSR (Thorium Molten-Salt Reactor). (theregister.com)
A private company founded by Kazuo Furukawa, designer of the Fuju reactor, called International Thorium Energy & Molen-Salt Technology Inc ( iThEMS ) aims to produce a small (10MW) reactor within five years. (theregister.com)
Advocates say that already existing thorium fuel and reactor technology could provide centuries and perhaps millennia of safe, abundant nuclear power. (scitizen.com)
Their work revealed that nuclear fuels could be multiplied through a process called breeding in which nonfissile elements--ones not subject to nuclear fission--such as thorium-232 and uranium-238 are deliberately introduced into a reactor. (scitizen.com)
China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment on Aug. 2 gave Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP) the green light to commission the experimental 2-MWth thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR-LF1) at the Hongshagang Industrial Cluster, Wuwei City, Gansu Province. (powermag.com)
1. This graphic visualizes the thorium-based molten salt reactor (TMSR-LF1) engineering design. (powermag.com)
The TMSR-LF1 is a proof-of-concept liquid fluoride thorium reactor that uses a fuel salt (LiF-BeF 2 -ZrF 4 -UF 4 [+ThF 4 ]) and a coolant salt (LiF-BeF 2 ). (powermag.com)
In 2011, the Chinese government approved plans for a thorium molten salt reactor and tasked its scientists with developing the technology to run it. (ans.org)
With the technology hurdle no longer in the way, India is readying thorium supplies to fuel its pilot advanced heavy water reactor (AHWR) that is currently in the works. (org.in)

More on this at the Nuclear Green blog, and the Energy From Thorium site. (theregister.com)

The energy output per tonne is also attractive, even though thorium isn't itself a fissile material. (theregister.com)
And, it is theoretically possible to turn all of the available thorium into fissile material meaning the total supply on any human time scale is vast. (scitizen.com)
Thorium (Th) is more abundant in nature than uranium (U), but it is "fertile rather than fissile, and can only be used as a fuel in conjunction with a fissile material such as recycled plutonium," explained the World Nuclear Association (WNA) . (powermag.com)

glasses containing thorium oxide have a high refractive index and low dispersion. (webelements.com)
Glass containing thorium oxide has both a high refractive index and wavelength dispersion, and is used in high quality lenses for cameras and scientific instruments. (world-nuclear.org)

Other uses for thorium include heat-resistant ceramics, aircraft engines, and in light bulbs. (wikipedia.org)
The following uses for thorium are gathered from a number of sources as well as from anecdotal comments. (webelements.com)

You may be exposed to higher levels of thorium if you live near or work at facilities where uranium, phosphate, or tin ore are processed. (cdc.gov)
Also, living near a radioactive waste disposal site or a place where soil levels of thorium are high may increase your risk of exposure. (cdc.gov)
In animal studies, lung damage was seen after breathing high levels of thorium for 3-6 months. (cdc.gov)
Special tests are available that measure the level of radioactivity in your urine and feces to determine if you have been exposed to high levels of thorium. (cdc.gov)
Most people don't need to take any special steps to avoid being exposed to high levels of thorium in their daily lives. (cdc.gov)
air levels of thorium. (cdc.gov)
There are no recent monitoring data for September 2019 industries, radium dial workers, and gas water levels of thorium. (cdc.gov)

Windblown dust and volcanic eruptions are natural sources of thorium in the air. (cdc.gov)

Built to handle a range of environments - cold ones - the Arc'teryx Thorium Hoody delivers serious warmth. (backcountrygear.com)

Thorium is nearly half as dense as uranium and plutonium and is harder than both. (wikipedia.org)
After thorium, there is a new downward trend in melting points from thorium to plutonium, where the number of f electrons increases from about 0.4 to about 6: this trend is due to the increasing hybridisation of the 5f and 6d orbitals and the formation of directional bonds resulting in more complex crystal structures and weakened metallic bonding. (wikipedia.org)
The thorium fuel cycles produce almost no plutonium, and fewer higher-isotope nasties, the long-lived minor actinides. (theregister.com)
Thorium is much more abundant than uranium, and the reduced plutonium output eases proliferation concerns. (theregister.com)
Their bombardment with particles emitted by fissile elements such as uranium-235 and plutonium-239 turns them into fissile fuels--ones capable of being split--such as uranium-233 (from thorium-232) and plutonium-239 (from uranium-238). (scitizen.com)
Thorium is considered to be the cleanest fuel in nuclear power plants because it produces less plutonium and other trans-uranium elements than uranium, when thorium is used in the fuel cycle. (enerji.gov.tr)

These mantles consist of thorium oxide (ThO 2 ) with about 1% cerium oxide and other ingredients. (webelements.com)
The material used for the preparation of thorium-activity standards in the form of powder is pure thorium oxide (ThO 2 ). (ptb.de)
However, when it is contaminated with the oxide, thorium slowly tarnishes in air, becoming grey and eventually black. (world-nuclear.org)
Thorium oxide (ThO 2 ), also called thoria, has one of the highest melting points of all oxides (3300°C) and so it has found applications in light bulb elements, lantern mantles, arc-light lamps, welding electrodes and heat-resistant ceramics. (world-nuclear.org)
Thorium oxide (ThO 2 ) is relatively inert and does not oxidise further, unlike UO 2 . (world-nuclear.org)
More than 2,00,000 tonnes of precious thorium oxide, which could have met at least half the energy requirements of the country for more than 50 years, is missing from India. (org.in)

All known thorium isotopes are unstable. (wikipedia.org)
On Earth, thorium and uranium are the only elements with no stable or nearly-stable isotopes that still occur naturally in large quantities as primordial elements. (wikipedia.org)
CAS # 7440-29-1 of thorium isotopes occur primarily in unabsorbed and excreted in the feces. (cdc.gov)
Al thorium isotopes emit alpha or beta duration oral MRLs were derived for laboratory animal evidence following particles with or without gamma radiation Data regarding the transport and thorium. (cdc.gov)
parenteral exposure to colloidal thorium as they decay primarily toward isotopes partitioning of thorium in the dioxide (Thorotrast). (cdc.gov)
Simultaneous Separation of Actinium and Radium Isotopes from a Proton Irradiated Thorium Matrix. (ornl.gov)
Thorium by contrast appears to be far more abundant than uranium, perhaps three times more abundant than all isotopes of uranium combined. (scitizen.com)

2019. Toxicological Profile for Thorium . (cdc.gov)
In 2019, thorium was traded at 72 US$/kg. (enerji.gov.tr)

Thorium is estimated to be over three times as abundant as uranium in the Earth's crust, and is chiefly refined from monazite sands as a by-product of extracting rare-earth metals. (wikipedia.org)
The most common source of thorium is the rare earth phosphate mineral, monazite, which contains up to about 12% thorium phosphate, but 6-7% on average. (world-nuclear.org)
Thorium recovery from monazite usually involves leaching with sodium hydroxide at 140°C followed by a complex process to precipitate pure ThO 2 . (world-nuclear.org)
Monazite is a thorium-bearing mineral that occurs in sand deposits in a number of places around the world. (theodoregray.com)
Globally, monazite is mainly produced for rare earth element content and only a small part of the by-product produced is thorium. (enerji.gov.tr)
Thorium production is mainly made from monazite sands. (enerji.gov.tr)

A proven hoody for cold, dry conditions, the Thorium delivers serious warmth and handles a wide range of environments. (theoutfitters.nf.ca)

it decays very slowly via alpha decay, starting a decay chain named the thorium series that ends at stable 208Pb. (wikipedia.org)
The decay chains of natural thorium and uranium give rise to minute traces of Th-228, Th-230 and Th-234, but the presence of these in mass terms is negligible. (world-nuclear.org)
With Thorium harmful decay is gone in 10 years for 83% of materials and 300 years for 17% compared to 10 000 years with conventional nuclear energy. (stackexchange.com)

This formed a complex containing a cluster of three thorium atoms flanked by cyclooctatetraenyl ligands and bridging chlorides. (acs.org)
An ultra-high vacuum chamber houses an ion trap where single thorium atoms are suspended and laser-cooled to near absolute zero temperature. (scitechdaily.com)

So, with all these advantages, what is holding back development of thorium-based fuels? (scitizen.com)

Thorium is a moderately soft, paramagnetic, bright silvery radioactive actinide metal that can be bent or shaped. (wikipedia.org)
When pure, thorium is a silvery white metal that retains its lustre for several months. (world-nuclear.org)

Thorium Hoody (Women's) - 2XS / BLACK is backordered and will ship as soon as it is back in stock. (theoutfitters.nf.ca)

Thorium, which refers to thorium-232, is a radioactive metal that is about three times more abundant than uranium in the natural environment. (ieer.org)

Thorium was discovered in 1828 by the Norwegian amateur mineralogist Morten Thrane Esmark and identified by the Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius, who named it after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. (wikipedia.org)
Thorium is a naturally-occurring, slightly radioactive metal discovered in 1828 by the Swedish chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius, who named it after Thor, the Norse god of thunder. (world-nuclear.org)

Thorium in the Environment Inhalation thorium nitrate was applied on the 238Uranium. (cdc.gov)
The material used for the preparation of thorium-activity standards in the form of solutions is thorium nitrate dissolved in nitric acid. (ptb.de)

Besides availability, thorium has three additional distinct advantages over uranium fuel. (scitizen.com)
and to test a thorium-uranium fuel cycle. (powermag.com)

even the purest thorium specimens usually contain about a tenth of a percent of the dioxide. (wikipedia.org)
Oral dioxide as reasonably anticipated to be a occurring thorium. (cdc.gov)

A large vein deposit of thorium and rare earth metals is in Idaho. (world-nuclear.org)

If successful, the TMSR-LF1 could pave the way for development and construction of a larger demonstration facility by 2030, as well as construction of a TMSR fuel salt batch pyroprocess demonstration facility to realize thorium-uranium cycle usage by the early 2040s. (powermag.com)

for Elemental thorium cannot be ingestion of food and drinking water metabolized. (cdc.gov)

Kurukshetra: The Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, Dr S Baneerjee, said large-scale conversion of thorium into uranium could help India meet the increasing demand of energy as nuclear energy was cheap and environment friendly. (org.in)

Thorium can be used to make ceramics, gas lantern mantles, and metals used in the aerospace industry and in nuclear reactions. (cdc.gov)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) joint publication Uranium 2016: Resources, Production and Demand (often referred to as the Red Book ) gives a figure of 6.2 million tonnes of total known and estimated resources (the 2018 edition of the same publication did not provide estimates of thorium resources). (world-nuclear.org)

Thorium is still being used as an alloying element in TIG welding electrodes but is slowly being replaced in the field with different compositions. (wikipedia.org)
Electrodes with 1% thorium added in gas tungsten arc welding are used to increase arc sensitivity. (enerji.gov.tr)

This is the main reason besides its sheer natural abundance that thorium could provide such long-lived supplies of fuel for nuclear power. (scitizen.com)
Third, the danger from the waste of the thorium fuel cycle is potentially far less long-lived. (scitizen.com)

222Rn [radon]) in feces, urine, and to thorium from inhalation of air and expired air. (cdc.gov)
Radon is a gas that forms naturally when radioactive metals - like uranium, thorium, or radium - break down in rocks, soil, and groundwater. (cdc.gov)
In addition to ionising radiation hazards typically associated with uranium production, subgroups of FMPC employees were potentially exposed to other sources, such as radon, thorium and low-level transuranic contamination. (cdc.gov)

China has committed itself to establishing an entirely new nuclear energy programme using thorium as a fuel, within 20 years. (theregister.com)

Second, the advantages of thorium come from the reprocessing and extraction of the uranium-233 produced by breeding. (scitizen.com)
For China, development of a thorium-based fuel cycle is also of interest owing to many advantages, especially for safety, reduced proliferation risks, and waste management. (powermag.com)

Thorium is a naturally occurring radioactive substance found in small amount in rocks, soil, and water. (cdc.gov)
There are four naturally occurring forms of thorium. (cdc.gov)
Because thorium is found naturally on earth, everyone is exposed to small amounts in air, water, and food. (cdc.gov)
Thorium is a naturally occurring element found at very low levels in the air, food and drinking water. (cdc.gov)

Concentrations of thorium in air, food, Thorium nodes and bone surface. (cdc.gov)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has classified thorium as resonably antipated to be a human carcinogen (causing cancer in people). (cdc.gov)

Studies on thorium workers have shown that breathing dust containing thorium (and other substances) may damage the lung after years of exposure. (cdc.gov)
These tests cannot predict whether you will have health problems from exposure to thorium. (cdc.gov)

Thorium is very insoluble, which is why it is plentiful in sands but not in seawater, in contrast to uranium. (world-nuclear.org)
Here's Silithus, a part of the virtual world where thorium ore is plentiful, if filled with very large insects. (christopherspenn.com)

[1] Contrary to the claims made or implied by thorium proponents, however, thorium doesn't solve the proliferation, waste, safety, or cost problems of nuclear power, and it still faces major technical hurdles for commercialization. (ieer.org)

When rocks containing thorium break down by wind and water, the thorium becomes part of the soil. (cdc.gov)
In most soils, thorium will attach strongly to the soil, which prevents it from moving into the groundwater. (cdc.gov)
Soil contains an average of around 6 parts per million (ppm) of thorium. (world-nuclear.org)

Here's the secret of thorium ore: for players at lower levels, it's one of the most needed metals in the game to level your profession. (christopherspenn.com)

As thorium breaks down, it releases small amounts of radiation. (cdc.gov)

The spent fuel from the nuclear power plant, uranium and thorium, was transferred by the PSC to the newly-built Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation next to Fort Saint Vrain. (energyfromthorium.com)

Thorium is also used in strengthening magnesium, coating tungsten wire in electrical equipment, controlling the grain size of tungsten in electric lamps, high-temperature crucibles, and glasses including camera and scientific instrument lenses. (wikipedia.org)

The activity standards are delivered in the form of solutions filled into sealed glass ampoules as HNO 3 solution (1 mol/L) with a thorium content of 0.4 mg or with 4 mg of thorium per gramme of solution. (ptb.de)
I bought it for its thorium content: Not that many minerals contain thorium and I'm trying to collect them all. (theodoregray.com)

The thorium atom has a radius of 179 pm and a Van der Waals radius of 237 pm. (americanelements.com)
Apart from "Dawn of Flames", which is a bit less one-dimensional, Thorium deliver an atom bomb of death metal mayhem straight to your face. (chroniclesofchaos.com)

We also produce Thorium as rods, powder and plates. (americanelements.com)

The properties of thorium vary widely depending on the degree of impurities in the sample. (wikipedia.org)

Thorium is not free in nature, it is located in the structure of about 50 minerals. (enerji.gov.tr)

Thorium exists in nature in a single isotopic form - Th-232 - which decays very slowly (its half-life is about three times the age of the Earth). (world-nuclear.org)

It's kind of remarkable, really, that you can collect thorium just by scooping it up with a shovel. (theodoregray.com)

The f-electron count for thorium metal is a non-integer due to a 5f-6d overlap. (wikipedia.org)
The researchers compared crystal structure data and spectroscopy and magnetic measurements with quantum chemical calculations and determined that the thorium cluster contains a 3-center 2-electron bond, and that these delocalized electrons are σ-aromatic. (acs.org)

Organisms2

Chemicals and Drugs14

Phenomena and Processes1

Reactors26

Reactor11

Energy From Thorium1

Fissile material3

Containing thorium oxide2

Uses for thorium2

Levels of thorium7

Sources of thorium1

Arc'teryx1

Plutonium6

Oxide6

Isotopes7

20192

Monazite6

Delivers serious warmth1

Decay3

Atoms2

Fuels1

Silvery2

Women's1

Abundant than uranium1

Discovered in 18282

Nitrate2

Uranium fuel2

Dioxide2

Rare-earth1

TMSR1

Elemental1

India1

Mantles1

Tonnes1

Electrodes2

Long-lived2

Radon3

Programme1

Advantages2

Naturally4

Concentrations1

Human carcinogen1

Exposure2

Plentiful2

Proliferation1

Soil3

Metals1

Radiation1

Nuclear Power1

High-temperature1

Content2

Atom2

Powder1

Widely1

Minerals1

Isotopic1

Collect1

Electron2