A top-down view of an experimental thorium-based nuclear reactor from the 1960s. (Photo: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy) The sands of India are brimming with potential to fuel ...

And the thorium dream is becoming a reality in China, where an experimental thorium-based nuclear reactor was built in 2021. The reactor, situated in the Gobi Desert, is under constant testing ...

After a half-century hiatus, thorium has returned to the front lines of nuclear power research as a source of fuel. In 2025, China plans to start building a demonstration thorium-based molten-salt ...

However, irradiating thorium-232 so that it absorbs a single neutron allows it to transmute into uranium-233, a fissile material that can be used to fuel nuclear reactors.

These reactors can adapt to a variety of nuclear fuel cycles (such as Uranium-Plutonium and Thorium-Uranium cycles), which allow for the extension of fuel resources. They can also be designed as ...

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A thin film using a dry precursor of thorium-229 shows the same nuclear excitation as the crystal, but its low cost and radioactivity, and smaller size mean its production could be more easily ...

However, building such a clock has posed major challenges—thorium-229, one of the isotopes used in nuclear clocks, is rare, radioactive, and extremely costly to acquire in the substantial quantities ...

The idea of nuclear ... with the TMSR-LF1 reactor having received its operating permit earlier in 2023. This is a fast neutron breeder, meaning that it can breed U-233 from thorium (Th-232 ...

It enables the use of thorium in existing PHWR reactors, reduces nuclear waste, and enhances energy security by utilising domestically available thorium. The fuel also promises improved safety ...

It’s a concrete step towards the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy. Copenhagen Atomics is leading the global race of delivering the first commercial thorium reactor. The company expects ...