COULD NUCLEAR FISSION HELP POWER OUR CITIES SUSTAINABLY?

Thorium is an alternative to uranium for nuclear fission. It is more abundant and generates less long-lived waste. Some countries are investigating its potential for sustainable energy. Maybe it could be an alternative to nuclear fission to help power our city’s sustainability. This article will examine thorium properties and viability as an energy source.

What is Thorium?

Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is light silver and tarnishes olive grey when exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high melting point.

Thorium fuel cycle

The thorium fuel cycle is the path that thorium transmutes through from fertile source fuel to uranium fuel ready for fission. Th-232 absorbs a neutron, transmuting it into Th-233. Th-233 beta decays to Pa-233 and finally undergoes a second beta minus decay to become U-233.

Safety and proliferation concerns

Thorium itself is not a good nuclear bomb material like plutonium or highly enriched uranium.

The thorium fuel cycle is considered more proliferation-resistant than uranium. This means that it is a bad nuclear bomb material. Molten salt reactors can…