The Thing About Thorium - Why The Better Nuclear Fuel May Not Get A Chance

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Other Sources, RTGs, Sea Water, Thorium, Helium-3, & Fusion Research

Date posted: 04/16/14

Nuclear energy is incredibly efficient as a source of power, and it creates very few emissions and carries a laudable safety record to boot. This conversation about nuclear good but uranium dangerous, regularly leads to a very good question - what about thorium. Uranium and thorium both can absorb neutrons and transmute into fissile elements. That means thorium could be used to fuel nuclear reactors, just like uranium. And as proponents of the underdog fuel will tell you, thorium is more abundant in nature than uranium, is not fissile on its own (which means reactions can be stopped when necessary), produces waste products that are less radioactive, and generates more energy per ton.