Thorium material: Super safe future nuclear energy

Thorium is increasingly receiving the attention of scientists around the world, as well as the United Nations, in studying a new form of nuclear energy that delivers higher efficiency, but still ensures safety over uranium. traditional.

The thorium element was first discovered in 1828 by a Norwegian scientist. The name thorium is named after a god in Norse mythology.

On Earth, thorium is considered a mineral with abundant reserves, found in sand and stones. In terms of the amount of thorium, the element is much more common than tin, mercury or silver.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) statistics in 2010, India became the most thorium-owned country in the world, while the United States was the second country with a stock of about 770,000 tons.

In the context of the world's depleted uranium reserves, thorium becomes the second element that can be used to produce nuclear energy in the future.

The physicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1984, Carlo Rubbia once thought that 1 ton of thorium could produce energy equivalent to 200 tons of uranium. Nuclear reactors that use thorium are much safer than non-self-decaying uranium do thorium without catalysts.

The thorium reactor experiment in Norway

The energy of the future .

For many years, many countries like Canada, China, Germany, Britain, the US, India and the Netherlands have tried thorium as a perfect substitute in uranium nuclear reactors.

Last July, the first nuclear reactor using thorium was tested in Halden, Norway. Scientists at the Norwegian research facility used oxidized thorium mixed with 10% oxidized plutonium. This mixture is then used in nuclear reactors and has produced some positive results. More importantly, the use of thorium will reduce the amount of plutonium that was formed after nuclear reactions by uranium.

Oystein Asphjell, executive director of energy project Thor, said that the abundance of thorium in the world will open a new direction in developing nuclear energy of the future. Thorium has a higher melting temperature and higher heat conductivity than uranium, enabling people to make safer nuclear reactors.

Scientists believe that the nuclear reactor using thorium will contribute to protecting the Earth's environment because the waste in thorium decay will only last for about 400-500 years. If there is an electrical system problem such as in the Fukushima nuclear disaster, thorium decay will slow down due to no longer providing the necessary catalyst. Then there will be no radiation leak.

Hans Blix, the UN inspector and former Swedish Foreign Minister recently released a statement that scientists around the world need to focus on making thorium a nuclear power source. of the future.

Images of thorium bars in experimental reactors

. But not widely supported

Thorium has certain benefits in becoming a nuclear power source to replace uranium. However, the energy development target in the world today is focusing on environmental friendly, low cost. Dr. Nils Bohmer, a nuclear physicist working for the Norwegian environmental organization, thinks that focusing on developing thorium in the field of atomic energy will consume a lot of money and time of scientists learn.

Some scientists support the project that thorium is not invested, researched in the past, because the nature of thorium cannot be used to make atomic bombs like uranium. While many countries around the world have spent billions of dollars to master uranium enrichment technology, thorium has become too safe to be used in nuclear reactors. Today uranium will still occupy an important position in the field of nuclear energy due to strong support from interest groups.

Thorium has higher safety and performance characteristics than uranium promises to be a major nuclear power source in the future. However, the actual study and application of thorium has only just begun. Future nuclear energy sources will be difficult to completely replace uranium within the next 20 years.