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Thorium fuel cycle
Nuclear fuel cycle / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The thorium fuel cycle is a nuclear fuel cycle that uses an isotope of thorium, 232
Th
, as the fertile material. In the reactor, 232
Th
is transmuted into the fissile artificial uranium isotope 233
U
which is the nuclear fuel. Unlike natural uranium, natural thorium contains only trace amounts of fissile material (such as 231
Th
), which are insufficient to initiate a nuclear chain reaction. Additional fissile material or another neutron source is necessary to initiate the fuel cycle. In a thorium-fuelled reactor, 232
Th
absorbs neutrons to produce 233
U
. This parallels the process in uranium breeder reactors whereby fertile 238
U
absorbs neutrons to form fissile 239
Pu
. Depending on the design of the reactor and fuel cycle, the generated 233
U
either fissions in situ or is chemically separated from the used nuclear fuel and formed into new nuclear fuel.
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The thorium fuel cycle has several potential advantages over a uranium fuel cycle, including thorium's greater abundance, superior physical and nuclear properties, reduced plutonium and actinide production,[1] and better resistance to nuclear weapons proliferation when used in a traditional light water reactor[1][2] though not in a molten salt reactor.[3][4][5]