Robert Hayes recounts that the two heaviest naturally occurring radioactive elements on the earth are Uranium and Thorium. Uranium is used as a fuel in modern commercial nuclear power reactors for electricity generation. A lesser known fact is that thorium could also be used as a nuclear fuel. Naturally occurring thorium is not fissile and so not able to undergo nuclear fission, aka separation, and as such it takes an initial nuclear reaction to enable this process.
To date, only India is actively pursuing research on a thorium-based nuclear fuel cycle for electricity production. This is based largely on the fact that their country has not yet identified abundant uranium resources, but does have substantial thorium ores. As reported in the technical and public press over the past years, thorium shows promise for an economically viable fuel source someday but the potential use of it in the U.S. does not appear to be likely in the near term, which seems to this reviewer to mean that there are other issues involved to explain the apparent lack of interest.
Original URL: http://www.science20.com/cool_science/thorium_can_serve_as_a_nuclear_fuel_for_commercial_electricity_generation-154925
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