Thorium and its future importance for nuclear energy generation
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2016
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Journal of Energy and Power Engineering
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Thorium was discovered in 1828 by the Swedish chemist Jons J. Berzelius. Despite some advantages over uranium for use
in nuclear reactors, its main use, in the almost two centuries since its discovery, thorium was restricted to use for gas mantles,
especially in the early 20th century. In the beginning of the nuclear era, many countries had interested on thorium, particularly during
the 1950-1970 period. There are about 435 nuclear reactors in the world nowadays. They need more than 65,000 tons of uranium
yearly. The future world energy needs will increase and, even if we assumed a conservative contribution of nuclear generation, there
will be a significant increasing in the uranium prices occur, taking into account that uranium, as used in the present thermal reactors,
is a finite resource. Thorium is nearly three times more abundant than uranium in the Earth’s crust. Despite thorium is not a fissile
material, 232Th can be converted to 233U (fissile) more efficiently than 238U to 239Pu. Besides this, since it is possible to convert
thorium waste into non-radioactive elements, thorium is an environment-friendly alternative energy source. Thorium fuel cycle is
also inherently resistant to proliferation. Some papers evaluate the thorium resources in Brazil over 1,200,000 metric t. Then, the
thorium alternative must be seriously considered in Brazil for strategic reasons. In this paper a brief history of thorium is presented,
besides a review of the world thorium utilization and a discussion about advantages and restrictions of thorium use.
Como referenciar
LAINETTI, PAULO E.O. Thorium and its future importance for nuclear energy generation. Journal of Energy and Power Engineering, v. 10, n. 10, p. 600-605, 2016. DOI: 10.17265/1934-8975/2016.10.003. Disponível em: http://repositorio.ipen.br/handle/123456789/27171. Acesso em: 18 Apr 2024.
Esta referência é gerada automaticamente de acordo com as normas do estilo IPEN/SP (ABNT NBR 6023) e recomenda-se uma verificação final e ajustes caso necessário.