What countries use thorium reactors?

Research and development of thorium-based nuclear reactors, primarily the Liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR), MSR design, has been or is now being done in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, India, China, France, the Czech Republic, Japan, Russia, Canada, Israel, Denmark and the Netherlands.

How much is thorium worth?

The salts cost roughly $150/kg, and thorium costs about $30/kg. If thorium becomes popular, this cost will only decrease as thorium is widely available anywhere in the earth’s crust. Thorium is found in a concentration over 500 times greater than fissile uranium-235.

How common is thorium?

Thorium is about as abundant as lead and at least three times as abundant as uranium, according to Lenntech. The abundance of thorium in Earth’s crust is 6 parts per million by weight, according to Chemicool. According to Periodic Table, thorium is the 41st most abundant element in Earth’s crust.

What does thorium decay into?

Thorium’s most stable isotope, thorium-232, has a half-life of about 14,050,000,000 years. It decays into radium-228 through alpha decay or decays through spontaneous fission.

Are we going to run out of uranium?

According to the NEA, identified uranium resources total 5.5 million metric tons, and an additional 10.5 million metric tons remain undiscovered—a roughly 230-year supply at today’s consumption rate in total. Breeder reactors could match today’s nuclear output for 30,000 years using only the NEA-estimated supplies.

How much uranium can power a city?

Uranium as a fuel for nuclear power Over 50 more reactors are under construction and about another 100 are planned2. A typical 1000 megawatt (MWe) reactor can provide enough electricity for a modern city of close to one million people, about 8 billion kWh per year.

How much energy is in 1 kg of uranium?

1 kg of uranium will create 24,000,000 kWh of power!

Why is U 235 better than u-238?

The U-238 nucleus also has 92 protons but has 146 neutrons – three more than U-235 – and therefore has a mass of 238 units. The difference in mass between U-235 and U-238 allows the isotopes to be separated and makes it possible to increase or “enrich” the percentage of U-235.

Can you touch uranium with your bare hands?

Uranium is, however, chemically toxic (as are all heavy metals). Therefore, it should not be consumed or handled with bare hands.